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The State Council meeting
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Move aimed to increase transparency regarding ’official trips’
Starting from January 4, information on high-ranking central and provincial government officials’ business trips abroad can be seen on the Internet, in a move to increase transparency and prevent "overseas tours" in the name of official trips. The site will also include basic information regarding which foreign VIPs paid a visit to South Korea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on January 3 that it would unveil its Internet site on government officials’ overseas trips to the public (visit.go.kr). Through this site, people can search records of domestic and foreign officials’ overseas trips since the launch of the Participatory Government in 2003. The site is linked to reports on short-term business trips and one- or two-year training programs of working-level officials managed by the Ministry of Government Administration & Home Affairs and the Civil Service Commission. In Korea, there has been growing controversy over the actual content of some public servants’ overseas business trips. Some official trips have been suspected by citizens and media of actually being pleasure tours. It was revealed in February of last year by the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had sent the South Korean government a letter of protest regarding South Korean officials sent to OECD field training in Paris. According to the letter, the officials lacked necessary qualifications, including the ability to speak English, and the letter questioned the purpose of the South Korean government’s sending these officials to the OECD training program.Searchers can check when, where, and for what purpose high-ranking officials, including President Roh Moo-hyun, made trips abroad. They also can confirm which leaders of foreign countries visited South Korea. Except for records on President Roh, however, the contents are very limited. Mandatory items to report are very small in number. According to the presidential order that created the site, officials occupying upper-level posts, including cabinet ministers, need only report on a trip’s purpose, duration, and destination. Regarding the "insufficient contents," one of the officials at the foreign affairs ministry that took the lead in developing the Internet site admitted that there was a lack of information on the site. He added, "as the Web site has not been made public, officials returning from overseas trips may feel the need to make more substantive reports" on their reasons for being abroad. The site shows that the destinations of many officials’ trips are nations with popular world attractions like Egypt, Italy, and Greece; the purposes of their trips to those nations seemed "improper," the official said, given that they were made under the auspices of official business. "Through [viewing] the site, people will be able to recognize such deficiencies and make requests for improvement," said the official. Regarding the improper nature of many of the trips taken, the official said, "I expect that concerned officials will submit more accurate reports on their overseas trips and the government will supplement related laws." Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
