Financial workers' union says criteria were changed retroactively to dock scores on government-approved plans; calls for overhaul of total labor cost regime and performance evaluation system

Jeong Jeong-hun, the newly appointed president of Kamco. [Kamco]
Jeong Jeong-hun, the newly appointed president of Kamco. [Kamco]

Controversy over the fairness of the government's 2025 public institution performance evaluations is growing.

Critics argue that institutions were penalized despite implementing government policy or operating under government-approved plans, fueling calls for a sweeping overhaul of the total labor cost regime and the performance evaluation system.

The Korea Financial Industry Union issued a statement Friday saying the case of Kamco — the Korea Asset Management Corp. — "is a prime example of how irrationally the public institution performance evaluation and total labor cost system are being run," and called on the government to "fundamentally reform a structure in which it holds authority while offloading responsibility onto institutions and workers."

The government convened the Public Institution Management Committee on June 19 and released the results of the 2025 public institution performance evaluations. Of 88 public enterprises and quasi-governmental agencies assessed, 15 received an "excellent" (A) rating, while 16 were rated "poor" (D or E). Kamco received a D rating in the institutional evaluation and was also placed on a list of institutions whose heads are subject to formal warnings following serious workplace accidents.

The union took particular issue with the evaluation of state asset sales performance.

According to the union, the presidential office ordered a complete halt to government asset sales last November and directed a review of ongoing transactions, prompting Kamco to suspend state property sales and request a target adjustment from its supervising ministry. Despite this, Kamco was docked points in the quantitative assessment for state property sales performance and received a D in the qualitative indicators as well. The union said the change in government policy was not properly reflected in the evaluation.

The total labor cost management indicator also draws fire. The union said Kamco had drawn up a workforce management plan to address a backlog of employees in lower job grades, secured approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance's quantitative evaluation committee in 2023 and 2024, and proceeded accordingly — only for the evaluation panel to later change the criteria for the indicator and award the lowest possible score on grounds of exceeding the total labor cost ceiling. The union said a government-approved plan had been assessed after the fact using different standards.

"Each institution has a different founding purpose, workforce structure and operating environment, yet a uniform total labor cost system and performance evaluation are only deepening conflict on the ground," the union said. "Public institutions exist to serve the people, not to chase evaluation scores, so the total labor cost system and performance evaluation regime must be comprehensively reformed."

When the government released the evaluation results on June 19, it said the assessments comprehensively reflected each institution's core operational performance — centered on major projects and national policy agenda outcomes — along with social responsibilities such as safety and environmental standards, financial soundness, productivity, and efforts to drive innovation through AI.

Performance evaluation results are directly tied to executive appointments, bonuses and budgets. The 16 institutions rated D or E will face cuts to their operating expenses next year and must submit management improvement plans. Two sitting institutional heads who received the lowest possible rating in the individual executive assessment have been recommended for dismissal.


fact0514@heraldcorp.com