The Ministry of Economy and Finance will be split into the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Planning and Budget on Jan. 2 next year. Drafts of bureau-level and office-level organizational charts for the Finance Ministry and the Planning Ministry will be drawn up and finalized soon.
According to related ministries on the 7th, the drafts for bureau-level and office-level organizational charts related to the Finance Ministry and the Planning Ministry are expected to be finalized at a Cabinet meeting after a Vice Minister meeting as early as this week.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy will be reorganized into a system with two Vice Ministers and six Deputy Ministers, and the Ministry of Planning and Budget into a system with one Vice Minister and three Deputy Ministers. Compared with the current Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) system of two Vice Ministers and six Deputy Ministers (with a separate grade-1 Spokesperson), this adds one Vice Minister post and three Deputy Minister posts overall.
At the Finance Ministry led by Koo Yun-cheol, in addition to the existing Office of the Deputy Minister, Office of International Economic Affairs, Tax Policy Office, and Office of Planning and Coordination, an Office of Innovative Growth and a Treasury Office will be newly established. The Treasury Bureau will be expanded and reorganized into the Treasury Office to strengthen management of state-owned assets and procurement, and innovative growth will be supported through the existing Policy Coordination Bureau and a new Strategic Industries Bureau. The Office of the Deputy Minister will also add a People's Economy Bureau to oversee livelihood issues such as prices and employment.
At the Ministry of Planning and Budget, along with the Budget Office and the Office of Planning and Coordination, a Future Strategy Planning Office will be newly established by expanding and reorganizing the existing Future Bureau. The Future Office will be responsible for drawing up mid- to long-term national strategies. The ministry's abbreviation will be "Planning Ministry," not "Budget Ministry." Before it was merged into the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) in 2008, the former Ministry of Planning and Budget also used "Planning Ministry" as its official abbreviation.
Attention is also on who will be nominated as the Planning Ministry's first Minister. In government circles, those mentioned include current MOEF Second Vice Minister Im Gi-geun, Presidential Office fiscal planning adviser Ryu Deok-hyeon, and politicians such as Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker An Do-geol.
The Planning Ministry will move from its current location at the Government Sejong Complex Central Building to the space vacated when the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries transfers to Busan (Building 5). The move is planned for around March next year. The Government Complex Management Office said, "As there is a need to set up office space before the Planning Ministry's launch date, for about three months the current office space and rented offices will be used in parallel before officially moving in."