Recently, Director-level officials who served as "vice premier secretaries" at the Ministry of Finance and Economy have been moving to private corporations. Their destinations are Korea's leading conglomerates, including Samsung and SK. The vice premier secretary post is known as a spot where "aces" are chosen, with a strong chance of advancing to Director General or Deputy Minister roles within the ministry. In government circles, some said, "Public servants' compensation is poor compared with private corporations, and the ministry's standing is not what it used to be, so key personnel are leaving."
Director A of the Strategic Economic Policy Bureau is said to be set to tender a resignation soon and move to SK. A, who passed the 46th civil service exam, is a figure who earned several "first woman" titles at the former Ministry of Economy and Finance. A was the first woman to be selected as vice premier secretary and also the first woman to serve as the foreign currency funds director, known as the "field commander of exchange rates." A is wrapping up work drafting the blueprint for a Korea-style sovereign wealth funds that will be established soon.
Director B of the International Finance Bureau is also reportedly preparing to move to Samsung Electronics soon. B is said to be slated to take on planning duties. A graduate of the 48th civil service exam cohort, B worked in the Economic Policy Bureau and the International Finance Bureau, which analyze Korea's macroeconomy overall. The Samsung Group has appointed former economic officials from the former Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), including Samsung Card CEO Kim I-tae and Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President Lee Byung-won, to key posts.
The two share the commonality of having served as "vice premier secretaries." Director A was secretary to former Vice Premier Choo Kyung-ho, and Director B was secretary to former Vice Premier Choi Sang-mok. Vice premier secretaries oversee budgets, taxes, finance, and macro policy at a glance and coordinate various pending issues from the vice premier's vantage point. With broad contact points with the presidential office, the National Assembly, and other ministries, the role has been regarded within the ministry as an "elite course" to pass through before rising to Director General or above. In fact, many former vice premier secretaries later served in core Director and Director General posts and rose to the center of the ministry's policy line.
As they move one after another to private conglomerates, a sense of crisis is growing within the government that it is losing the next generation of executive candidates. Among junior public servants, a sense of letdown is palpable. A Deputy Director at the ministry said, "There's a self-mocking line going around that the ones who go to the private sector first are the capable ones." Another Director-level official said, "It's a big shock because these were people we thought would inevitably rise to the top," adding, "It's also true we feel envy."
A widening pay gap is cited as a reason public servants keep moving to private corporations. According to the public servants' union, public servant pay stands in the low 80% range compared with the private sector. Although the government works every year to improve public servant compensation, the measures mainly focus on junior grade-7 and grade-9 officials. On top of that, recent bonus windfalls at some conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are widening the gap further.
The ministry's diminished standing compared with the past also appears to play a role. The former Ministry of Economy and Finance, which oversaw economic policy, was split this year into the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Planning and Budget on grounds that its powers were "excessive." In particular, as the ministry lost its budget function and failed to push through the consolidation of domestic financial policy functions into the Financial Services Commission, assessments say its policy coordination capacity has weakened.
The atmosphere that a move to the private sector is no longer seen only as the terminus of a public service career is also having an impact. In the past, there was a strong perception that once you left public service, it was hard to return, but recently there have been cases of returning at the ministerial level after gaining private-sector experience. Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources is a prime example. After leaving public service, where Kim spent 25 years, and moving to Doosan Group, Kim rose to CEO of Doosan Enerbility and was then nominated as minister of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI).