Kim Ji-hyun

[Korea Herald  2007.04.27]

 

 

The Hansun Foundation for Freedom and Prosperity, a group of conservative scholars, yesterday propo-sed a smaller but more efficient government formed of 14 ministries.

 

Currently, there are a total of 22 ministries, four of which are secondary departments placed under the prime minister.

 

"The government is too large and unwieldy despite that the advancement of the country hinges on how effective the government can perform," said Park Se-il, a professor at the Graduate School of Internatio-nal Studies at Seoul National University. In 1995, he served as presidential secretary on policy planning. He also heads the Hansun Foundation's board of trustees.

 

Hansun is a private think tank that opened last year with up to 50 experts from academia and former

government officials who act as trustees and researchers.

 

According to Park, national prosperity hinges on decentralization and privatization, meaning the govern-ment should shift more of its authority to provincial governments while privatizing as many state-run

agencies as it can.

 

The reforms proposed by Hansun would consist of 14 ministries headed by a powerful agency in charge of molding major policies and development projects. The rest of the 13 ministries are to be created by

mixing and dispersing the functions of the incumbent 22 ministries.

 

For instance, the foundation suggested transforming the Unification Ministry into a secondary departme-nt under the prime minister to be exclusively in charge of inter-Korean exchanges. The ministry currently handles all issues related to North Korea and unification.

 

The foundation would merge the industrial functions of the Science Technology Ministry and the Comme-rce Ministry with the Culture Ministry. Its name would be the Science Commerce Ministry. The foundation also recommends merging the Health Ministry with the Gender Equality Ministry. In addition, it envisions creating a brand new ministry called the "Future Ministry" by adopting functions from the education and culture ministries.

 

"A tighter government would be more effective in managing everything from finances to welfare and

other major state policies," said Yi In-sill, a professor of Sogang School of Economics.

 

Expansive reforms were outlined for the property regulatory system to help offer different social classes housing that are better tailored to their taste and lifestyles.

 

"Good housing welfare is not about keeping down the price of all real estate. It's about giving people a wider choice of homes to select from based on their income and tastes," said Na Sung-lin, deputy chair-man of Hansun's trusteeship and professor of economics at Hanyang University.

 

 

 

(jemmie@heraldm.com)