Pan Suk Kim

Purpose: The South Korean government launched the proactive administration initiative in mid-2017, which has been widely implemented throughout the public sector. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to review a behavioral approach to promote proactive administration in the South Korean government.Design/methodology/approach: The research questions are as follows: (1) How did the South Korean government initiate a behavioral approach to administrative reform by promoting proactive administration? (2) What systems or mechanisms has the South Korean government utilized to promote proactive administration? (3) What kind of constraints did the government face in the process of administrative reform and how did it resolve them? (4) What was the preliminary reaction to or evaluation of such reforms in public administration communities?Findings: Although it is still too early to evaluate the overall impact of administrative reform to promote proactive administration on civil servants’ behavior, it has nonetheless contributed greatly to the substantial change in perception that public officials in the administrative field should pursue their work as actively as they can.Originality/value: This study is meaningful because while many countries have promoted administrative reforms such as structural reorganization, downsizing of human resources, cutback management and fiscal innovation, privatization, regulatory reform and promotion of digital government, cases of behavioral innovation, such as proactive administration, have been relatively scarce. Since a behavioral approach to administrative reform would be essential in many countries, this paper will serve as a useful reference for the consideration of their governments.

Corea del Sur logró contener la propagación de la enfermedad del coronavirus sin imponer medidas de confinamiento ni restricciones serias de movilidad. El país adoptó un enfoque masivo y polifacético que incluyó el uso prácticamente universal de cubrebocas, distanciamiento social, pruebas de diagnóstico rápido, rastreo generalizado de alta tecnología y tratamiento efectivo de los infectados. Para difundir información sobre la emergencia y mantener el distanciamiento social generalizado, se usaron tecnologías avanzadas de información y comunicación. Gracias a las amplias pruebas de diagnóstico y al rastreo de alta tecnología, las autoridades sanitarias estuvieron equipadas para luchar contra el virus, que se movía con rapidez, y para rastrear intensivamente a las personas que pudieran haber estado expuestas a él. Así, la experiencia surcoreana en la implementación de estrategias de prueba, rastreo, aislamiento y tratamiento es una referencia útil para otros países que están lidiando con la pandemia.

Although “agility” is a popular term today, an understanding of its meaning and key components is lacking. The term “agile government” has been increasingly used in various studies and reports but remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review agile government studies, overcome the various new challenges against such trends, and identify possibilities of building an effective agile government. First, business agility studies and agile development methods are reviewed, followed by an overview of agile government studies and an evaluation of the present and future uses for agile governments. Finally, this paper identifies various challenges and suggests new tasks toward a more agile government based on the reviews.

Many advanced countries have introduced competency assessment to define the necessary abilities for effective job performance—linking key human resource management and leadership development activities to ensure organizations have competent employees. Competency management is the subject of considerable attention worldwide, but the concept is not well researched. This article reviews the South Korean government’s competency assessment system and explains how it can be adapted to develop civil servants.

The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South Korea was identified on 20 January 2020. South Korea’s blended response of quick action and technological innovations has proven effective in containing the COVID-19 outbreak and can offer lessons for other countries. This paper presents a review of the administrative and legal measures taken by the Korean government, a discussion on the lessons learned from previous epidemics and disasters, and an overview of the government’s agile testing and containment strategies. The paper ends with a discussion on the implications of Korea’s responses to public policy and public management theory.