The finance minister said South Korea’s new government would streamline public organizations on Friday, citing concerns about efficiency after a rapid expansion of its operations under the previous administration.
The government will cut the workforce and reduce organisation spending as the first step in planned reform measures. Finance Minister Chu Kyung-ho was quoted in a statement at a scheduled meeting.
President Yoon Suk-yol, who took office in May, promised public sector reforms and said his government would cut spending and sell non-core assets in public enterprises earlier this month.
The move comes as Yoon faced a continued decline in approval ratings, with Gallup Korea’s latest weekly opinion poll on Friday dropping his approval to 28% from 32% a week earlier.
Chu said 350 public organizations were employing 449,000 people as of May and won 583 trillion ($449 billion) in combined liabilities at the end of 2021, up 34% and 17%, respectively, over the past five years.
He said there were concerns among the general public and experts about the efficiency and profitability matching the rapid expansion in scale of public organisations.
