The outcry against waste and inefficiency caused by the relocation of government ministries to Sejong City can be addressed quite simply: Build a National Assembly annex in Sejong City and perhaps even Blue House offices there.
Most of the waste ― both time and money ― is attributed to the frequent business trips that ministries’ officials are required to make to attend various National Assembly meetings. According to the government, some 7.5 billion won was spent in the first half of last year on business trips to Seoul.
More than 5,000 civil servants board the KTX bound for Seoul every month. According to KORAIL, 5,037 civil servants from 14 government ministries and agencies in Sejong City used the Seoul-bound KTX between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on workdays in July 2014. Considering that many board the trains well before 9 a.m. to meet early morning schedules in Seoul and that regular shuttle buses run between government complexes in Seoul and Gwacheon and Sejong City, the number of people on business trips is probably much higher.
With civil servants spending so many hours on the road, it has become difficult to enforce strict working hours and discipline, so much so that the Prime Minister’s Office last month began checking on the efficiency of business trips.
Such problems were not entirely unforeseen. There are 23 video conference rooms in the Sejong City government complex that could be used to reduce travel. However, the video conferencing facilities have gone largely unused. Not one video conference took place between Sejong City and the Gwancheon government complexes in the first half of last year, while ministries engaged in video conferencing between Sejong City and Seoul about once each during the same period.
Video conference facilities were set up between the National Assembly and the Sejong City government complex at the end of last year and a dedicated video conferencing room has been set up, but they are hardly used.
Inefficiencies and waste have led to growing calls for the establishment of a National Assembly annex and Blue House offices in Sejong City. Convening standing committee meetings and other smaller meetings in Sejong City could indeed boost efficiency.
While the National Assembly staff, including the legislators, are said to be cool to the idea, as it means effectively transferring some of the National Assembly functions to Sejong City and it may be a while before such changes are made, something must be done in the meantime to curtail the growing inefficiency.
As a start, civil servants and legislators should try to make the most of video conferencing. In a hi-tech society such as Korea, it is a shame that the country’s leaders still insist on face-to-face meetings when there is an alternative that is just as good and more efficient.
