Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun tours the ministry's library, Seodamjae, ahead of its opening ceremony at Government Complex Sejong on July 16. [Yonhap]
Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun tours the ministry's library, Seodamjae, ahead of its opening ceremony at Government Complex Sejong on July 16. [Yonhap]

Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun said workplace gapjil — the abuse of power by superiors — "cannot be tolerated under any circumstances and must be eradicated," pledging to overhaul the ministry's organizational culture. He also announced plans to better protect employees' right to take leave and to reform reporting and meeting practices to reduce their workload.

The Ministry of Planning and Budget said Friday that Park sent a message to staff through the ministry's internal communications network — his second such message since April — commending employees for their work on major tasks including the presidential briefing, supplementary budget compilation and next year's budget drafting.

Park said he had recently received a briefing from the ministry's innovation administration and audit divisions on measures to address staff grievances and reform organizational culture. "Workplace gapjil cannot be tolerated under any circumstances and must be eradicated," he said. He added that he had carefully read notes sent by the labor union and would "look again, with fresh eyes, to see if there is anything I may have missed." He also pledged to "take every necessary step — including training for managers — to prevent gapjil and build a healthy organizational culture."

The message drew attention in part because it came as awareness has grown across the public sector about excessive workloads, workplace harassment and the need for cultural reform, following the death of a government official in his 30s at the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy.

Park also promised to protect employees' right to rest. He said his office would directly receive reports on vacation plans and usage by each division to ensure staff actually take their leave. "If work stops because one person is away, or if no one else can cover for them, that is not a normal organization," he said. He urged managers to actively ensure that employees feel comfortable taking time off.

Park outlined steps to improve reporting culture as well. He said the ministry would standardize its report formats to align with other ministries, make video briefings the default for ministerial reports, and limit the practice of requiring working-level staff at the rank of deputy director or below to attend briefings to cases of strict necessity. For matters not requiring a ministerial decision, written reports would be used instead. He also said the ministry would address the inconvenience of running multiple overlapping messaging platforms — Britie, Memphis and Telegram — by pursuing integration into a single work messenger.

"The Ministry of Planning and Budget must not be an organization that simply compiles budgets — it must stand at the forefront of structural reform that uses the budget as a lever to change society," Park said. "Before asking you to think in new ways, I will give you the chance to recharge and start by cutting unnecessary work." He added that he would build a ministry that "removes what can be removed rather than piling on more, and focuses its energy on what truly matters."


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