Busan City Hall [Busan city government]
Busan City Hall [Busan city government]

Busan city government announced Friday it will abolish the long-standing practice of rotating all civil servants through overnight and holiday duty shifts, replacing it with a dedicated-staff system starting Sept. 1.

The overhaul ends a practice in place since the South Korean government was established in 1948 — a span of 77 years. City officials said the change is aimed at maximizing administrative expertise and efficiency.

Under the existing system, all staff at city hall took turns covering night and holiday duty on a rotating schedule. The arrangement drew persistent criticism for building up fatigue among workers and creating gaps in regular administrative work the following day, when staff took compensatory leave. The city said it will eliminate the standby-style duty shifts entirely so civil servants can focus on their core responsibilities.

In their place, the city plans to expand the dedicated workforce at its disaster operations center to strengthen continuity and response capacity for duty and emergency management. The center will also be linked to a smart monitoring system to enable faster and more systematic initial responses when urgent situations arise at night or on holidays.

Alongside this, the city will introduce an AI-based duty management system. The AI will handle routine and repetitive inquiries — including referrals to other agencies — around the clock, freeing the disaster operations center to concentrate on real-time monitoring of disasters, accidents and emergencies.

The city expects the restructuring to minimize work disruptions caused by post-duty compensatory leave, improve the speed of handling public complaints and raise overall service satisfaction, while cutting unnecessary costs and improving organizational efficiency.

Mayor Jeon Jae-soo said the city would build a workplace culture "where civil servants can break free from the formality of duty rotations and immerse themselves in the work that truly serves residents and in innovative administration."


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