Recently, public servants in Sejong City have been saying that "President Lee Jae-myung seems to frequently and thoroughly send down 'instructions' compared to his predecessors." Instructions are content that public servants must know among presidential directives. It is stipulated in the Prime Minister's directive that the Chief of Staff to the President must convey it to the relevant agencies through the Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination.
It is reported that President Lee Jae-myung has sent about 10 instructions to the central government over the past five weeks. This means he conveyed about two directives per week. Public servants mainly receive presidential instructions through a public online messenger. Deputy Director A said, "As presidential instructions frequently come down, public servants check the content among themselves saying, 'Another one has arrived.'"
The content of the presidential instructions is said to be diverse. Director B said, "In early to mid-July, there were mainly instructions regarding safety." The instructions on the 8th of last month, when the heat wave was severe, included the message, "We will do our best to prevent damage from the heat wave." Additionally, on the 18th of last month, when heavy rain caused damage, the instructions stated, "Protecting the lives and safety of the people is the nation's top priority. We must ensure that no small mistakes occur in protecting the lives of the people."
"Instructions requiring specific work methods also appear in presidential directives," noted Deputy Director C. On the 21st of last month, the instructions included, "Conduct internal discussions vigorously, but once a decision is made, faithfully implement it, and if there are unavoidable difficulties in the execution process, report that reasonable alternatives can be found and implemented." Furthermore, on the 4th, during the President's vacation, it was directed to "activate brainstorming with frontline public servants to fully gather and reflect field opinions in policies."
It is also reported that there are instructions to "change the meeting materials and reporting methods." The directives stipulate, "Do not cover phenomena or fragmented issues in presidential meeting materials, but instead, discover meeting agendas that can bring fundamental changes to our society," and "Reports should not merely describe the situation but clearly present the conclusions drawn after review by the responsible department, and if the President does not make a separate mention, implement the measures as they are."
President Lee Jae-myung's instructions reportedly include content stating, "Ensure that the intentions of the presidential directives are not distorted and are implemented without fail." Additionally, the President remarked, "I intend to apply excessive rewards and punishments when due," reflecting his intention to improve the bureaucratic inertia in public service.
As a result, a tense atmosphere among public servants is being sensed. Director D said, "It might be possible to take personnel actions against public servants judged to have violated presidential instructions as a 'pilot case.'"