South Jeolla-Gwangju Special City completed its first personnel reshuffle Wednesday, issuing appointments for more than 2,800 civil servants.
The city issued appointments effective Wednesday covering 316 Grade 5 and 1,120 Grade 6-and-below civil servants at the Gwangju office, 325 Grade 5 and 1,075 Grade 6-and-below at the South Jeolla office, along with transfers and secondments at the division, bureau and department head level, bringing the total to more than 2,800.
A large share of the appointments amounted to in-effect reassignments in name only, as departmental title changes under an organizational restructuring left most staff at their existing posts.
Personnel exchanges with basic local governments — particularly at the deputy head level — also drew attention.
Cho Seok-hun, director of the Autonomous Decentralization Bureau, transferred in from Mokpo, and Kim Jeong-wan, head of the South Jeolla Human Resources Development Institute, came in from Gwangyang. On the outgoing side, Energy Industry Bureau Director Yu Hyeon-ho moved to the special city council, Autonomous Administration Headquarters Director Gang Jong-cheol transferred to Mokpo, and Broad Safety Bureau Director Lee Sang-yong moved to Gwangyang, while Women and Family Bureau Director Choe Gyeong-hwa was assigned to Seo-gu. Several section chiefs also moved to county offices: Agricultural Policy Section Chief Kim Hyeon-mi to Jangheung-gun, Public Relations Support Officer Gang Seong-il to Gangjin-gun, Enterprise City Officer Jang Yeong-cheol to Hampyeong-gun, Shipping and Port Section Chief Park Geun-sik to Yeonggwang-gun, Culture and Arts Section Chief Choe Byeong-nam to Wando-gun, Forest Recreation Section Chief Mun Mi-ran to Gokseong-gun, and Youth Hope Section Chief Jeong Hye-jeong to Sinan-gun.
Kim Jae-in, regional planning section chief of the Broad Construction Bureau, was named acting director of that bureau, and Gang Sin-hui, forest recreation section chief of the Forest Garden Bureau, was named acting director of the Forest Garden Bureau.
Some observers noted that coordination with certain basic local governments did not go smoothly during the process.
Suncheon is understood to have promoted its own deputy mayor internally rather than accepting an appointee from the special city. Smooth personnel coordination among basic local governments is considered one of the central challenges of running the new city, making how the administration manages that dynamic a key test going forward.
A large-scale reshuffle is expected at the regular personnel review in January.
While this round focused on stabilizing the organization immediately after launch, the January review will be the first to incorporate performance evaluations for civil servants as the city heads into its second year of integration.
With a second round of organizational restructuring also in the pipeline, the January reshuffle is expected to include redeployment of staff between the two offices and a reorganization of units covering strategic sectors such as semiconductors and energy.
sij@heraldcorp.com
