Transforming higher-level civil service in a new age: A case study of a new senior civil service in Korea

During the last couple of decades, the improvement of senior leadership qualities became the focus of public service reform around the world. There is a wide range of countries that formally recognize a distinct group of senior civil servants with special roles and needs. Along such a global trend, the Korean government introduced it on July 1, 2006. It is expected that the senior civil service will serve as a key link between political executives and the rest of the career civil service. However, establishing senior management does not just mean modifying the profile of senior officials. It requires the reorganization of a strategically managed separate group trained to cope with new demands and sociopolitical environmental changes. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to review the establishment of the senior civil service, one of the hottest current issues in the Korean government's public service reform.