Gyeonggi Province Cuts Five Deputy-Director Positions…Will Vacant Positions in Seven Cities and Counties Be Resolved?

As Gyeonggi Province prepares for an organizational restructuring to take effect in January next year, which will reduce five division and department head positions at the provincial office, attention is focused on whether the prolonged vacancies in deputy administrative official positions across seven cities and counties in the province will be normalized.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 20th, the province announced its first organizational restructuring plan for the ninth popularly-elected administration, which will reduce the current 30 divisions and departments to 25 and adjust 151 departments to 141. Divisions and departments will decrease by five and departments by ten, while the number of section chiefs will remain at five.

The province plans to conduct legislative notice from the 21st to the 26th and submit the organizational restructuring plan to the regular session of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council, which convenes on the 3rd of next month. If subsequent procedures including provincial council deliberation and ordinance amendments are completed, the restructuring could be implemented in January in conjunction with regular personnel appointments. However, a specific implementation date has not been confirmed.

The restructuring aims to integrate similar and overlapping functions while strengthening organizational structures in key areas such as finance and semiconductors.

The Transportation Bureau, Railway and Port Logistics Bureau, and Gyeonggi International Airport Promotion Task Force will be integrated into the Transportation Innovation Division, and the Balanced Development Planning Division, Peace and Cooperation Bureau, and Northern Gyeonggi Special Autonomous Province Promotion Task Force will be reorganized into the Peace and Balanced Development Planning Division.

A Finance and Planning Bureau, which oversees financial functions, and a Fair Economy and Society Bureau, which consolidates fair economy, special judicial police, tax collection, and administrative appeals functions, will also be newly established. Economic and industrial functions will be integrated into the Economic and Industrial Division, and a new Semiconductor and Advanced Industry Planning Officer position will be created.

Notably, the scale of reductions in division and department head positions resulting from this organizational restructuring aligns with the long-standing scale of deputy administrative official vacancies across cities and counties.

The province has delayed personnel appointments for deputy administrative officials in seven cities and counties including Seongnam, Siheung, Gwangju, Icheon, Yangju, Pocheon, and Gapyeong. As follow-up appointments were not made at customary personnel appointment times due to reasons including the province's organizational restructuring schedule, some cities and counties have experienced prolonged vacancies in deputy administrative official positions.

Governor Chu Mi-ae also indicated at a national audit on the 13th that it would be advisable to complete organizational restructuring before making personnel appointments, signaling personnel changes for January next year.

Accordingly, some observers note that the personnel reallocation demand created by the reduction of five division and department head positions at the provincial office could lead to resolving the vacancies in deputy administrative official positions.

Comparing purely by numbers, the five division and department head positions to be reduced account for five of the seven deputy administrative official vacancies. Calculations suggest that the remaining two positions could also be filled through promotions or other personnel adjustments.

However, the reduction of five division and department head positions does not mean all corresponding personnel will move into deputy administrative official roles. This is because division head and department head positions have different ranks, and multiple personnel factors including reassignments, promotions, and retirements of existing executives will come into play during the organizational consolidation process.

Previously, Governor Chu Mi-ae stated at a national audit by the National Assembly's Administration and Safety Committee on the 13th regarding the delay in personnel appointments for deputy administrative officials that "it is advisable to make personnel appointments after completing organizational restructuring" and "due to unavoidable circumstances, we have scheduled it for January next year."

Regarding the situation, she explained that "we first sought opinions to see if personnel appointments could be made in November," while also noting that "when one person moves, everyone else has to be moved as well."