Conditions of successful administrative reform -a historical perspective-

Abstract

When a new president is elected, it is generally assumed that one of the president's challenges is to reform government operations. Recent reforms in Korean government had been mainly those of changes of government structures: these changes have included the consolidation of organizational functions and the dismantling of inefficient and unpopular agencies. They were the so-called cutback reforms. In May 1988, when popularly elected President Rho announced the establishment of the Administrative Reform Commission (ARC), many believed that administrative reform would be critical to the president's effort to democratize the governmental processes of the Sixth Republic. In July 1989, the ARC submitted its proposals for reform to the Ministry of General Affairs(MGA): these proposals recommended a wide range of structural and functional changes. The MGA, serving as the secretariat to the ARC, distributed the report to each ministry and agency and invited their opinions.