The Ministry of Personnel Management enforces the “Charter of Public Servants” which includes right attitudes toward the people and the nation and standards of value required in the performance of official duties as of January 1, 2016.

The Charter, which has been considered a dead letter since enacted in 1980, is reborn in accordance with the stream of the time and the expectations of the citizens, as a result of one-year preparation after the foundation of the Ministry.

It differs from the previous version, which had put its emphasis on ethical virtues and civil service discipline of public servants, in that it includes objectives of public servants who will lead the country in the future by highlighting the proper resolution to devote themselves to the country and serve the people and stating desirable public service values to realize the right civil service anticipated by the people and the future generations.

In the preparatory stages, the Ministry has collected many opinions from all ranks and classes including citizens, public servants, scholars, religionists, and a special advisory panel.

To frame the charter, the surveys targeting citizens and public servants selected core civil service values which encompass the present and the next three decades, namely patriotism, democracy, diversity, responsibility, transparency, fairness, integrity, morality and common good. They were structuralized as three categories of view of state, public service spirit, and ethical belief, in order to re-establish public service values to be realized by public servants.

The Charter has been read during New Year’s kick-off ceremonies of public organizations, so that all public servants can share and realize the public service values contained in the Charter

Lee Geun-myeon, Minister of Personnel Management, said that the revision of the Charter is very meaningful in that it demonstrates public servants’ commitment to change and innovation to the people. He added that citizens will have greater trust to public officials as more and more public servants internalize and practice the Charter.