The presidential office on Wednesday unveiled a set of "public service capacity enhancement measures," including the introduction of a "fast-track for promotion to Grade 5" for civil servants. The presidential office also said specialist civil servants in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) will serve in the same post for seven years or more instead of rotating positions, and open-recruitment positions at the director and director-general levels will be expanded.
"We will introduce a fast-track for special promotion to Grade 5 to quickly develop capable officials into managers," Kang Hoon-sik, Chief of Staff to the President, said at a briefing at the presidential office that day. "Through rigorous vetting, officials will be promoted early. We plan to start with 100 people this year and expand the program in phases."
"Those selected will be assigned to departments handling key policy initiatives and nurtured as core personnel of the government," he continued. "We will establish the fast-track, alongside the Grade 5 open-competitive examination, as a pathway for cultivating managers, creating a public service culture centered on performance and results."
Kang also said, "We will cultivate specialist civil servants without rotating assignments." He added, "In fields requiring high levels of expertise and experience, such as artificial intelligence (AI), international trade and labor inspection, officials will serve long-term for seven years or more to build their expertise." He continued, "We will strengthen periodic refresher training, and expertise accumulated in the field will be officially certified and reflected in personnel decisions. Specialist personnel needed across multiple ministries will be managed on a government-wide basis."
Kang added, "We will immediately revise the relevant laws and regulations to implement these measures swiftly," and "I believe this will serve as a foundation for dramatically elevating public service capacity in a rapidly changing environment."
