The government has begun preparing to publish a "Plum Book," which organizes the terms and pay of heads of public institutions the president can appoint, as confirmed on the 19th. The Plum Book was first published in the United States to define the scope of presidential appointment authority and to transparently disclose information on appointed officials. It also aims to block parachute appointments by specifying qualifications and appointment procedures for each post.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy said on the website of the "National Agenda Platform for the Public," which opened on the 9th, that it would "publish and disclose a Korean version of the Plum Book." The website was launched to disclose in real time to the public the progress of the Lee Jae-myung administration's national agenda. A ministry official said, "We are at the stage of planning the publication timing and specific composition items of the Plum Book." The ministry is reportedly reviewing including in the Plum Book the appointing authority, term, and pay level of heads of public institutions.
Publishing the Plum Book is related to President Lee Jae-myung's campaign pledge. Lee pledged to "align the terms of the president and key heads of public institutions to strengthen policy consistency." The aim is to block so-called "staking out," in which a president appoints heads of public institutions right before the end of the presidential term. To do that, there is a need to transparently disclose to the public who the heads of public institutions eligible for presidential appointment are.
In the United States, the administration of Dwight Eisenhower, elected in 1952, published the first Plum Book. At the time, with power shifting for the first time in 20 years from a Democratic administration to a Republican one, Eisenhower is said to have created the Plum Book to find out what positions he could appoint. The name Plum Book comes from its plum-colored cover. It also carries the meaning of a document related to "plum positions," or prime posts.
In the United States, the Plum Book discloses some 9,000 key positions that begin their terms with a new president, including White House aides, federal government Ministers, and heads of public institutions. It also includes their titles, departments, and pay. The most recently published Plum Book came out in Dec. 2024, a month after President Donald Trump was elected. It runs 222 pages. Unlike Korea, the United States does not have fixed terms for agency heads. For this reason, a newly elected president is said to appoint new agency heads with reference to the Plum Book.
Korea published an appendix of major national positions five times from 2003 to 2007 through the Central Personnel Committee (now the Ministry of Personnel Management). And since 2013, the Ministry of Personnel Management has disclosed online, in the first and second half of each year, the positions, ranks, and duties of grade-4 and higher civil servants. However, there has been a steady call to establish a legal basis and disclose more comprehensive information. Some also argue that, unlike the United States, Korea sets the term of public institution heads at three years by law, so rather than matching it to the presidential term, appointments should be decided by considering job competence.