Foreign ministry launches internal platform to collect self-reform opinions

South Korea's foreign ministry has launched an internal online "platform" where its workers can suggest diverse reform measures for its organization, a ministry official said Tuesday.

The platform was launched Friday on its intranet through which the ministry will collect opinions from its employees on how to reform itself, the official told Yonhap. It will remain in place until late September with people sending opinions anonymously.

The move came after the ministry formed a task force early last week to spearhead the overall reform drive. It is led by Oh Yeoung-ju, a special adviser to Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and comprises three divisions in charge of personnel, organization and renovation.

The task force will carry out an analysis of the ministry's organization and structure, and collect opinions on how to address current challenges. It plans to unveil a reform blueprint by September.

The task force has also completed assigning necessary employees for each division. Around 40 diplomats from its headquarters and overseas missions have been recruited, according to the official.

In her inauguration speech last month, Kang underlined the need to create a workforce with more diverse backgrounds and capabilities, different from the "closed" organization dominated by a small group of elites who started their careers as diplomats and graduated from certain schools.

Kang, a former UN policy adviser, is the first female foreign minister in South Korea and also the first case in 14 years in which the ministry is headed by a person who didn't start as a career diplomat. (Yonhap)