[Editorial] Looking Forward to Each Candidate’s Plan to Reform Public Sector

The national competitive edge of South Korea now ranks lower than those of China and India. Experts point to the heavy regulations and the incompetence of the government as the main cause. Roh has sized up his administration ever since taking office. He has advocated for a big government. Now, the inefficiency and moral hazard in the public sector has devastated the country to our disappointment. New French president Nicola Sarkozy is overhauling the public sector of his country to boost the national competitiveness. Can we sit on our hands, just enviously watching the formation of the new France?

The next administration has to tackle the difficult job of reforming the public sector. It has to pick up the pieces left by Roh’s shattering “big government” efforts, which created more people on the government payroll, more government agencies, sloppy management of state-run companies, mushroomed committees and commissions, and skyrocketing number of regulations. We have not, however, heard any sincere plan on the topic from any presidential candidate. The election is just one month apart. Neither have we heard any sincere talks on the topic among the contenders.

Grand National Party candidate Lee Myung-bak recently promised to reorganize the current 56 government agencies into 10 bodies, and to privatize and streamline the management of the state-run corporations. But he fell short of proposing any cut on the government payroll. In other words, Lee did not make any promise to downsize the 65,000 government workers. We suspect how serious he is about the public harm caused by the diabetic government organization. He may have considered the votes to be cast by government workers. Another promise of him to cut 10 percent of the national budget is not supported by details.

Likewise, United New Democratic Party candidate Chung announced his economic plan yesterday. He pledged to create 2.5 million new jobs. He, however, also failed to show us how he would reform the public sector. Last month, Chung publicly said that he would overhaul the government structures burdened by the numerous committees and commissions Roh has created. Looking at his positions on welfare, for example, Chung seems to endorse Roh’s big government approach.

Precedents from other advanced countries teach us a lesson: An administration cannot reform the public sector unless it tackles it in its early days. All the negative, mud-slinging campaigning tactics have blinded South Koreans to the importance of each candidate’s policies. Voters should closely review each candidate’s policies and promises, and, if necessary, ask for modifications. Those on the government payroll enjoy astronomical bonuses and diverse benefits, which all come from taxpayers’ pockets.