Interior ministry proposes protections for proactive local officials

The interior ministry said Wednesday it will propose rules expanding legal protection and ongoing rewards for local civil servants pursuing proactive administration, citing concern that investigations and lawsuits can deter decisions made for residents.

Draft revisions to the rules governing proactive administration by local civil servants will be open to public comment for 40 days from Aug. 19 through Sept. 28.

Each local government would form a protection-support team comprising a protection officer, dedicated staff and internal or external lawyers to provide legal advice and litigation assistance. Officials facing criminal complaints or accusations over such work could receive help with lawyer fees after indictment and before a not-guilty verdict becomes final, except in cases of clear misconduct. The ministry would recover costs if support was obtained through false or improper means or if intentional wrongdoing or gross negligence was confirmed. Officials also could not be disadvantaged solely because proactive work failed to produce its originally expected outcome. “Civil servants who work proactively for the public should not face hardship out of fear of investigations or lawsuits,” Kim Min-jae, vice minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said. “This revision will firmly protect officials who perform their work proactively and build a public-service culture in which their achievements are properly rewarded.”

A new legal basis for a proactive-administration mileage system would create ongoing rewards for efforts and achievements, supplementing periodic recognition for exemplary civil servants.

The draft would allow the Interior Ministry and Education Ministry to coordinate matters involving two or more local governments through joint meetings and would impose confidentiality rules on information learned through the proactive-administration committee. Proactive-administration officers, as well as assigned officials, could request committee opinions after hearing from the assigned official, and the committee's principal decisions would generally be public.