Interior ministry opens public call for seventh open government plan

The interior ministry said Wednesday it will accept public proposals for South Korea's seventh open government action plan from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, seeking citizen input on anti-corruption, public participation and digital governance.

Suggestions submitted through a poster's QR code will go to the Korea Open Government Committee, a joint government-civil society body, for review before being shaped into policy tasks for the plan, which will run from July 2027 to June 2031.

The plan is a national action plan drawn up jointly by governments and civil society in member countries of the Open Government Partnership, an international body launched in 2011 with a secretariat in Washington, D.C., that now counts some 70 countries, 100 local governments and thousands of civil society organizations as participants.

"Open government is a process of listening to the voices of the people and having the government and civil society find a better path together," said Kim Min-jae, vice minister of the interior ministry and the government co-chair of the Korea Open Government Committee.

"Through this public call, we will gather a wide range of valuable ideas from the public and faithfully reflect them in the seventh open government action plan, so as to build an open government that citizens can feel in their daily lives," he said.

Anyone may take part, submitting ideas to improve government transparency and accountability or to give citizens a freer voice in policymaking.

South Korea joined the Open Government Partnership in 2011 and has since established six action plans, developing and carrying out 63 tasks covering whistleblower protection, disclosure and opening of data, public-private efforts to resolve pressing issues, and support for the growth of civil society.