The Presidential Office on Wednesday announced a plan to strengthen public service capabilities, centered on introducing a "fast-track promotion system" for Grade 5 civil servants. Under the plan, fields requiring expertise such as artificial intelligence (AI) and trade will shift from rotational assignments to long-term postings of seven years or more, while open positions at the director and director-general levels will be expanded, moving away from the existing seniority-based bureaucratic system. The aim is to enhance expertise, rapidly promote high performers, and significantly increase the inflow of private-sector talent.
"We will introduce a Grade 5 promotion fast-track to rapidly develop capable working-level officials into managers," Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said at a Presidential Office briefing. "We plan to start with 100 people this year and expand in phases." The government is reviewing plans to increase the number to around 150 by 2028, equivalent to 50% of the current scale of Grade 5 open recruitment.
"Three tracks will operate together within government ministries," said Cho Seong-joo, Senior Presidential Secretary for Personnel Affairs. "Personnel who entered through the Grade 5 open recruitment exam, those hired through private-sector career recruitment, and those promoted from Grade 7 or 9 will compete together for senior positions." This signals a change to the traditional elite senior bureaucracy system, which has been dominated by those who passed the higher civil service examination.
The rotational assignment system, which has operated on one- to two-year cycles, will also shift to a long-term tenure model centered on specialized fields. The number of specialist civil servants in 34 fields requiring expertise — including AI, trade and labor supervision — will be increased from the current level of about 700 to more than 1,200 by 2028. "In particular, we will ensure that AI-related civil servants can be utilized across ministry silos, including the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety," Kang said.
Open positions to attract private-sector talent will also be expanded. The share of open positions at the director and director-general levels, which stood at 7.1% as of January last year, will be raised to 12% by 2030. Salary caps will be eased and employment restrictions revised depending on the characteristics of each position. "This means leaving room to exceed the existing 200% ceiling," Cho explained. The move is seen as reflecting the reality that salary gaps have been an obstacle to bringing high-paid private-sector experts from companies such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) into the government.
A plan for personnel exchanges between the central and local governments was also unveiled. Citing the case of the National AI Computing Center being located in South Jeolla Province, Cho said, "We can create a task force in which central government officials are dispatched to large-scale regional projects to provide one-stop support for permits and procedures." The intent is to resolve structural bottlenecks in which local governments have been unable to accelerate projects due to delays in consultations with the central government and regulatory hurdles.
In addition, the plan calls for reorganizing the lifecycle-based education system for civil servants and establishing a national system to manage overseas human networks. "We will create a self-directed learning account for civil servants that can be used to strengthen job capabilities, such as subscriptions to generative AI services and obtaining certifications," Kang said. "We will also operate up to three learning days per year."
Overseas networks will be managed through an integrated database that consolidates information individually held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, overseas missions and each ministry. "We will immediately revise the relevant laws and implement them quickly," Kang stressed. "This will serve as a foundation for dramatically enhancing public service capabilities in a rapidly changing environment."
