Professor Park Gwanggook from the Department of Administration at CUK received a second appointment letter after being a member of the 1st Government Performance Evaluation Committee (GPEC). 

He was appointed as the private sector chairman of the 9th Government Performance Evaluation Committee. 

We sat down with Professor Park, who is expected to contribute to improving the expertise of the committee and show excellent leadership based on considerable insight. 

Will do duties faithfully with a sense of endless responsibility

First of all, I feel a sense of great responsibility as I took the important position of the private sector chairman of the Government Performance Evaluation Committee. GPEC is a joint public-private committee that was created under the prime minister's office in 2006, following Article 9 of the Framework Act on Government Performance. This committee is an organization that reviews and decides on the matters of establishing the basis of medium to long-term evaluation, establishing a basic plan to evaluate government performance and its execution, and executing the government performance evaluation and checking the result. More specifically, the Government Performance Evaluation Committee evaluates central administrative agencies, local governments, and public organizations with the help of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Ministry of Economy and Finance. It also reviews and decides on the key parts related to the overall evaluation. The GPEC co-chairs with the prime minister. It can be said that it takes on leveraging roles for reformation and innovation of the government bodies as well as securing the driving force of the president to work on state affairs. As I was appointed as a chairperson to this key position, I will take full duty to improve the fairness of evaluation and receptivity of ministries.

The most important task is securing fairness and receptivity

There will be so many important parts I shall consider as a private sector chairman. However, I believe securing fairness and receptivity of ministries from the “evaluation” aspect is the most important task. Especially, I am putting a lot of thought into securing and enhancing the professional evaluation team's expertise to accurately evaluate central ministries, local governments, and public organizations. Fortunately, a lot of know-how was accumulated while evaluating government performance over the last 15 years. As the Government Performance Evaluation Support Center was founded in the Korea Institute of Public Administration last year, we were able to secure the receptivity of departments and the driving force to win public trust. I will do my best to upgrade the status of the Government Performance Evaluation Committee one step higher during my term. 

Department of administration, inseparable from government performance evaluation

The Government Performance Evaluation Committee evaluates numerous government departments, local governments, and public organizations that perform various functions. Therefore, professional knowledge of general evaluation is crucial as well as expertise in each field. In other words, administrative knowledge about the organization, workforce, and budget is crucial. The reason is because it makes each institution perform the best outcome the following year by linking the evaluation results to the organization, workforce, and budget accurately. Therefore, it can be said that administration studies is inseparable from government-related tasks. 

In addition, as the administration department is a field that studies government sectors, its usefulness can be said it is unlimited.  The future society is expected to be exposed to a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. By taking the first letter of each word, it is called the VUCA environment. The typical problems that may arise in this environment include climate change, population explosion, low birth rate and super-aging, regional extinction, low growth, and outbreaks of pandemic diseases such as COVID-19. In order to solve these problems effectively, the private sector, civic groups, NGOs, etc., have to get together around the government and bring out collective intelligence. In the future, more talented experts have to come into the administration sector, plan these solutions, and take a role in mediating conflicts among various stakeholders.  Since public administration belongs to applied science, I am sure that it will become a space where numerous experts with various specialties cooperate.

Time for CUK to leap toward carbon neutrality

I am also the chairman of the CUK Carbon Zero Committee. CUK has been speeding up on establishing a green campus by holding a ceremony centering on the university president and the mayor of Bucheon during the opening mass of the 2022 fall semester to practice carbon neutrality. We need to make two types of efforts for this ceremony to become established as an eco-friendly movement in the CUK instead of a one-time event and make our campus considered a good example of a carbon-neutral university for other universities.

First, we need to put more effort into securing renewable energy, such as installing solar panels on campus. For example, electric power consumption can be reduced by replacing the lights with LEDs. Currently, CUK is working on replacing the campus lights with LED smart lighting.

Second, we need to enhance the awareness of eco-friendliness among CUK family. We should refrain from using disposable products, use public transportation, and walk a close distance in our daily lives. Also, it will be necessary to minimize various wastes, including food waste from school, as much as possible.

It is expected that a heavy carbon tax will be imposed for excessive emission of carbon dioxide, including the use of fossil fuels. And now is the time to make an effort for the future. I will also do my best with you as the chairman of the CUK Carbon Zero Committee for our school to step up as an energy-independent university."