The hiring process was easy for me but I had a chungjang who worked hard to make sure everything went smoothly and good old Mayor Hur also supported my hiring.

Retiring, however, was much much more difficult and took a good six months from the day I announced that I would not renew my contract for another 2 years to get everything solved, including down to the exact week I was due to leave the country and move back to the States. Had I not had experience retiring from another Korean government job prior to this one, I would have been screwed out of my pension which is given in a lump sum. Thankfully I was familiar with the process and put up a stink until I got my money (and it was not easy for a whole slew of reasons). Good luck to whoever replaces me if they are a foreigner as well.

In regards to HR practices and contracting people from the private sector, before I left, I was told that whoever replaces me will apply for the job and be offered a position this month but they will not be officially hired until January of 2008 (not that I think they really need to refill my position now that the organization has been completely revamped since the days I started working there and the job description I had has completely changed in function and role despite what is written in the job description for the new hire). Anyway, that’s a long time from the moment an offer it made and accepte to the person’s first day of work and first month of payment.

All in all things worked out for me but it was because I was pushy and I don’t feel bad about being “inconvenient” because it was the only way things got done on time before I was due to leave the country. Is the Korean govt.’s HR system an ideal one for others to follow? I suppose like all govt. jobs, nothing is ever easy or clear…and Korea is no exception. I wouldn’t say it’s the worst model out there but it isn’t the best either in my experience.

But perhaps “benchmarking” in Thailand is similar to Korean government “benchmarking” in that it really is just a euphemism for a work-paid vacation with very little intention of learning anything.

The thing is that Korean employees often expect from foreign employers a double standard: strict application of The Law™ [or rather whatever misconception they have of it] when it suits them, and devotion to the Korean Way™ when the law doesn’t work out too good for them. I played the same trick on them, which was probably easier for me since I never spoke to any of them in a foreign language. A discussion in Korean does tend to bring out some pre-formatted behaviours in them.

And now let the Commies bash me until kingdom come…

This is very true, despite dda’s humorous declaration of himself as an exception. Some kind of group cohesion psychology, I think.

An O/S trip is often seen as a reward or a perk for time served. The officials would act in a manner as though they deserve their “paid vacation” shamelessly taking part in tourism and “fun” parts of the trips and kicking back during meetings. Copious amounts of soju and kimchi are usually brought along. In fact, the youngest member is usually the “짐꾼” or porter for the seniors.

In the coming week before a trip I get numerous calls, “what is famous to buy there?” “What are the main tourist attractions?” etc etc.

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself at the Incheon city officials behaviour in Qatar during the Asian games. But that’s pretty much the norm cameras/reporters or no cameras/reporters. In fact, usually the when reporters join in they’re just as bad.

Having said all that, there are some amazingly diligent officials with whom I’ve worked and well respect and even consider my mentors.

It takes time to make changes like this but you can’t deny the evidence that the Koreans are making both an effort and some progress.

Maybe they should wait one before they start holding themselves out as a model to emulate.

There is not a pronounced problem with respect to government personnel other than their sense of entitlement to bribes … and the notion that the public exists to serve them rather than the other way around.

If the conference were here to study and adopt human-resources practices for the private sector I would alert them Danger, Will Robinson! but otherwise this seems innocuous enough.

Huh!!?? Does not compute. Does not compute. Does not compute!

it is very, very difficult to get fired from ANY job in Korea #17

You obviously haven’t worked for me

One last comment, you can’t just poo-poo a guy’s point like that. Who are all these fish? What I know is that the government has instituted some major major reforms for personnel evaluations, from senior ministers on down to lowest levels of management. These evaluations feed directly back into pay grade increases and other bonuses, promotions, and career building opportunities (ie. staff exchanges to peru, and the like). It took several years to negotiate all the changes and not all have been adopted/initiated. It takes time to make changes like this but you can’t deny the evidence that the Koreans are making both an effort and some progress.

About the issue at hand: clearly there are lots of anecdotes that one side or the other can drag up. You chose the one about the side trip. What you don’t know is the true extent of the punishment for those guys and, what you also may not be aware of, is that it is very, very difficult to get fired from ANY job in Korea, let alone in the civil service. Never mind the unions, the social taboos against firing a guy are very strong. Then again, I’ve seen egregious abuses back home (I’m a former civil servant) and heads have not rolled (heck, I’m a detroit lions fan; don’t get me started about Matt Millen!). So, those guys that went on the side trip might not have been fired, but they may have been barred from further promotion/bonus, etc. That IS a major punishment when you have to go back to explain to your wife why your career path has been stunted. And, if you fail to make the next promotion grade, eventually you get forced out of the civil service and land in a taxi or running your own small restaurant. It’s not the plan you had in mind, ergo, punishment worse than a slap on the wrist.