Bureaucrats Shut Out From Public Agency Chief Posts

The civil service is experiencing significant unrest as career bureaucrats have been effectively excluded from top positions at major public agencies since the launch of the Constitutional Respect and Government Innovation Task Force.

While the practice of automatically appointing former bureaucrats to agency head positions regardless of qualifications should be avoided, critics point out that blanket exclusion is also problematic from the perspective of placing the right person in the right position.

According to financial industry sources on Wednesday, no former bureaucrats applied for the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation's open recruitment for its next president, which closed on December 24.

Industry insiders say bureaucrats were essentially given no opportunity to apply. Until now, KDIC has typically been led by officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance or the Financial Services Commission. "For agency head positions, it's standard practice for the Presidential Office to request recommendations or consult with the relevant ministry," a senior financial industry official said. "I understand this process did not happen this time."

This has fueled market speculation that a candidate has already been selected.

The situation is similar at the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency. Interviews for the next director were conducted on January 4, but former bureaucrats were reportedly not included among the candidates. Some suggest Im Su-kang, vice chairman of the Production and Inclusive Finance Research Association and former Gyeonggi Research Institute official, has already been chosen. "The selection process for the director has concluded, but I hear no date has been set for announcing results," an industry official said. "It seems even bureaucrats are being excluded as people with political backgrounds or connections keep trying to secure these positions."

This pattern extends further. The prevailing view is that a former bureaucrat is unlikely to become the next president of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, whose term expires in January next year. A senior FSC official, identified only as "A," was initially mentioned as a leading candidate, but recent speculation suggests an internal candidate may now be ahead. Previously, both Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea appointed internal candidates as CEOs.

"There's an atmosphere of excluding former bureaucrats from agency head selections," a government official said. "Parachute appointments of bureaucrats are problematic, but blanket exclusion from the candidate pool isn't right either."

This trend is also evident in senior government personnel decisions. There are reports of a climate where those who worked in the Presidential Office under the Yoon Suk-yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations face relative disadvantages in personnel matters.

"Every administration has brought the most capable bureaucrats up to the Presidential Office to work," another government official said. "If career civil servants are treated or classified like politicians and this is reflected in personnel decisions, a culture of political alignment and passive resistance will become pervasive throughout the civil service."

"Having worked under the Moon Jae-in administration doesn't help either," another government source described the situation.

Government circles believe that if this exclusion of bureaucrats spreads across all ministries, there will be significant unrest, particularly among younger civil servants. While the Yoon administration also showed reluctance to favor those who served in previous presidential offices, observers in government circles say the intensity is increasing across the board, from public agency head appointments to senior government positions.

Even for Grade 1 personnel reshuffles aimed at organizational renewal, the practice used to be receiving pro forma resignations and accepting only some of them. Now, with few exceptions, all are accepted.

"Going forward, the exodus of young civil servants will only intensify," a senior government official said. "The civil service is likely to undergo major changes under the Lee Jae-myung administration."