[Editorial] Personnel Movement Should Help Public Livelihood

The presidents of the so-called “Big 3”—the Korea Electric Power Corporation, the Korea Housing Corporation and the Korea Land Corporation—have tendered resignation. The heads of the state-run companies and their subordinate companies under the Culture Ministry, the Labor Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Knowledge Economy Ministry and the Land Ministry plan to resign from their posts. Most of their appointment was a token of appreciation for showing support for the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration or thanks to political ties, even without expertise.

But the Lee Myung-bak administration should not fill the positions like Roh did to pay its political debt. The administration should place a priority on making a small government and reforming the state-run corporations. If it does not change the perception that the public sector run by taxpayers’ money is the administration’s own, Lee’s pledge of the public sector reform will fail and then the leftist collectivism will only change into that of rightists.

The high-handed personnel administration has little legitimacy. Moreover, those who were appointed thanks to their political ties even without expertise are highly likely to manage the organization loosely because they will have to meet the demands of the labor union. Labor unions and executives of state-run companies are very good at manipulating their newly appointed heads.

Though the previous Roh administration seemed to value expertise in the beginning, it ended up naming people who share the same political will. Later, its favored politicians dominated public corporations. Roh even said later that a lack of experience can be a merit. To avoid repeating the same mistake, the Lee administration should come up with a firm principle from the beginning and stick to it.

Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling party announced that they would exclude candidates who failed in the general elections from appointment for the public sector, government agencies and the presidential office. The administration thinks that the candidates were already judged by voters. This is valid. It should keep in mind that if the government makes the same mistake in forming a Cabinet and appointing the staff of the presidential office, people will turn their back against the administration.

The appointments in the public sector are all the more important because the administration should select those who can follow through a strong public sector reform. If people think that ‘revolving door’ appointments hamper the reform of the loose management of state-run companies, the Lee administration will be no different from its predecessor. It should choose competent people who can make the market economy stronger and raise the standard of living.

The comprehensive appointments in the public sector in the beginning of the administration will serve as a litmus test. The public is fed up with the public sector’s personnel management in the past administration and is hoping that it will be different this time.