Government Official Trips Criticized

Local government officials often go on junkets just before their terms expire in June.

Civic organizations are calling for a halt to this practice, however, asking, “Do government officials want to go on graduation trips?” Under this circumstance, attention has been drawn to the fact that some local governments have revised related regulations to prevent what some say is a waste of public money.

Last Fling Before Retirement-

Sixteen Geumjeong-gu Council officials from Busan City traveled to China and the Philippines for six days recently. They claimed the trip was to benchmark the tourism industry and study urban infrastructure, but most of their itinerary was composed of sightseeing.

Six Pyeongchang-gun Council officials from Gangwon Province are on a junket to Rome and Torino in Italy, Geneva in Switzerland, and Moscow in Russia, for ten days. They claim their trip is to promote the city’s bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. But they are staying in Torino, where the Winter Olympics are being held, just for two days; they will sightsee for the rest.

Eight Seongju-gun Council members from North Gyeongsang Province traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia on February 5 for what they called legislative system comparison purposes.

Another county district in the province explained that officials whose terms are about to finish go on trips abroad to promote friendship among themselves. All 11 members of Dalseong-gun government, Daegu City, came back to Korea after traveling to Hong Kong and Taiwan for five days recently. The mayor and six government employees went abroad with the officials.

Officials of Gangseo-gu Council, Busan City, are scheduled to visit Kunming, Nanjing and Shanghai in China for six days starting February 14. Except for meetings with city government officials, their itinerary is all sightseeing.

Kim Hae-mong, secretary of Citizens’ Solidarity for Participation and Self-Governance of Busan, criticized end of term trips as a waste of public money, saying, “Foreign trips are supposed to be a chance to learn from exemplary cases abroad and graft them into governance.”

Changing Itineraries-

The Gyeongnam Provincial Council (GPC) changed its foreign trip itinerary last month in the face of disapproving public opinion. Seven officials of its Education and Society Committee planned to visit the Opera House and the Blue Mountains in Australia. Amid criticism, they added Sydney’s City Hall and the office of education in New Zealand to their itinerary.

Three GPC committees were scheduled to visit China, the Philippines, and Myanmar but ditched their plans because of public criticism. An expert committee member of the GPC said, “It was the first time that the council planned to go on a trip abroad in the last year of the members’ terms.”

Ten Seo-gu Council officials from Incheon belatedly decided to visit the city hall of Hanoi, Vietnam, during their junket to Vietnam and Cambodia. In the name of gathering experience in maritime culture, they planned to visit Ha Long Bay and Angkor Wat but changed their itinerary after criticism from civic organizations. The organizations demanded itinerary changes be made, saying, “What kind of contributions can officials, who have only a few months in office left, make for the county’s politics after their junket?”

Efforts to Curb Junkets-

The Jinju City Council (JCC) revised its rules on foreign trips for council members for the public purposes and implemented them starting January 12. Their main point is to curb such junkets. The new rule forces officials to submit plans for business trips and foreign field trips 45 days before their departure and put a report and a statement of their expenses on the city’s official web page within 30 days of their return.

The council increased the number of review committee members from seven to nine, including outsiders, and came up with the detailed provisions. The result of the review will be disclosed on the city’s homepage.

A clause stipulates that any money spent exceeding the original trip budget will be redeemed, except for inevitable circumstances like natural disasters.

Since the JCC’s Economy and Construction Committee’s field trip abroad in February 2005, civic organizations formed a review meeting to revise relevant regulations, and the JCC was praised for its participation. The revision passed a standing committee meeting and was approved at a plenary session last December.

Kwon-Hyo Lee Jeong-Hoon Kang boriam@donga.com manman@donga.com