Recent administrative reform in Korea: a preliminary assessment

Abstract

It is surely too early to assess the progress of the ongoing administrative reform by the current Kim Young Sam government. This paper, however, attempts to characterize it, if preliminarily. The current administrative reform takes the form of an unprecedentedly strong, swift, and wide-ranged reform from above. Its purpose is clearly set out for de-authoritarianism. But this kind of reform may not be undertaken without cost. It seems that it causes economic recovery to suffer, if shortrun. Later this paper turns to the administrative reform mechanism, the Presidential Commission on Administrative Innovation(PCAI), which can be distinguished from its predecessor in several respects, and evaluate its unique strength and weakness. Finally, it draws some preliminary conclusions and provides some prospects for the Korean government's administrative reform which seems to set no time limit.