The transition to a 21st-century knowledge-based information society, the acceleration of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, pandemics, low birth rates and aging populations, and social polarization present unprecedented policy challenges that require ...
The transition to a 21st-century knowledge-based information society, the acceleration of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, pandemics, low birth rates and aging populations, and social polarization present unprecedented policy challenges that require Korean civil servants to possess not only in-depth knowledge in specialized fields but also advanced expertise including creative problem-solving capabilities.
While the Korean government has continuously pursued institutional reforms to enhance public sector professionalism in response to changing administrative environments, these efforts have revealed significant limitations in terms of effectiveness. The long-standing personnel practices centered on seniority systems that hinder civil servant expertise continue to remain unimproved.
From this perspective, this study aims to comprehensively diagnose the current state and problems of Korea's civil servant personnel management system across all personnel areas including recruitment, training, position management, and evaluation from the viewpoint of enhancing civil servant professionalism, and to derive comprehensive and implementable specific improvement measures.
To achieve this objective, extensive literature review was conducted, comparative analysis of civil servant personnel systems in major developed countries was performed, and surveys were administered to civil servants working in central government ministries. Through these processes, it was confirmed that there have been numerous studies related to civil servant professionalism, with consensus on the lack of professionalism among Korean civil servants and various proposals for improvement measures. In particular, frequent job rotation was identified as a core factor hindering civil servant professionalism.
Furthermore, it was confirmed that government-level institutional reform efforts to enhance civil servant expertise have continued. In the recruitment area, various systems have been introduced to attract outstanding external experts to the public sector. Efforts have been made to create conditions for building professionalism through long-term service in one position, and support for professionalism accumulation has been provided through training programs and leave systems.
Comparative analysis of foreign government cases confirmed that each country pursues the common goal of securing and developing civil servant professionalism through different approaches. Common characteristics observed across these countries include the operation of diversified selection methods considering job-specific and field-specific professionalism, promotion and position management centered on professionalism and performance, and differentiated educational programs by position level and career stage.
Survey results from civil servants working in central government ministries revealed that civil servants rate their own professionalism levels excessively high, and identify the causes of insufficient civil servant professionalism as frequent job rotation, lack of evaluation and compensation systems based on professionalism and performance, and inadequate educational programs. Civil servants prefer measures such as training improvement, incentives to encourage long-term long-term tenure, and strengthened evaluation based on professionalism and performance for enhancing professionalism.
Based on these survey and analysis results, comprehensive development measures for enhancing Korean civil servant professionalism were derived. First, in terms of reforming the basic framework of personnel systems, it proposed gradual reform of the grade system. For recruitment, activation of Career Competitive Recruitment System and enhancement of the effectiveness of Open Competitive Position System were suggested. For position management, improvement measures to encourage long-term tenure such as flexible application of mandatory position periods and substantialization of Professional Position System were proposed. Rational reform and strengthening of training and competency development systems were also presented. Additionally, a phased implementation approach divided into short-term, medium-term, and long-term periods was proposed to ensure effective implementation of institutional improvements.
Future research tasks emphasized include the development of specific indicators for objective measurement and evaluation of civil servant professionalism, longitudinal studies to analyze the long-term effects of professionalism enhancement policies, and additional research on measures to enhance local civil servant professionalism. Research on measures to promote organizational culture changes for improving civil servant professionalism was also deemed necessary.