Administrative Modernization and the Korean Experience

Kim, Pan Suk
Name in Latin Alphabet:	Kim, Pan Suk
Nationality:	Republic of Korea
Affiliation:	Yonsei University

강연 소개

Administrative modernization is a process for improving administrative effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector. Present governments all over the world not only have to solve the lingering problems of government policy failures from the previous generations, but also have to develop reform measures to effectively respond to the changes of the environment on a macroscopic level, such as globalization, regionalization, informatization, and localization. The Korean government has initiated various public sector reforms in the past several years. Major areas of reform are public management innovation, civil service reform and human resource development, decentralization and local autonomy, anti-corruption, financial management reform, and professionalization of the public sector. Improving the capacity of public employees which is meant to improve the professionalism of public management systems proved to show relatively higher achievement both in the quality and amount of service provision. The introduction of e-government, or the use of ICT, is also a major reform program which aims at facilitating public service provision and bringing citizen-oriented service provision to the public sector. Reforming state institutions and the civil service as a way to improve public service delivery supported by improved human capital and supporting infrastructures can be mentioned as a major factor for the success of more of the reform programs. In terms of public finance management, implementing sound and modern public finance management supported by electronic systems improved the transparency and accountability in government.

Introducing a reform program is relatively easy, but the most critical issue might be a question of how to effectively implement target programs. In various developing countries, public sector reform has taken place over the years and well written reform documents have been produced. However, one of the most common issues is the fact that ‘implementation is the challenge.’ Implementation includes the realization of an application or execution of a new idea, plan, design, model, specification, standard, or policy. In order to effectively carry out a new policy, strong national leadership and political support are also very much needed for effective implementation. Governments need to give due attention to the successful achievements of set outcomes in the proposed reform. A lack of government follow-up has been cited as the main cause of poor performance in many developing countries. Following-up and monitoring are necessary actions in order to facilitate a positive outcome and to ensure that there is a spillover effect into other sectors. Accordingly, the Korean experience of administrative modernization might provide applicable lessons for many developing countries in Asia, Africa, and the rest of the world.

강연 영상

Administrative Modernization and the Korean Experience