Lee Jae Myung government to add 63 auditors across 28 ministries in civil service overhaul

The Lee Jae Myung administration plans to add a total of 63 working-level audit staff across 28 government ministries in a major expansion of internal oversight capacity. The move follows President Lee's directive to tighten monitoring and disciplinary measures against corruption and incompetence in the civil service, and is intended to raise integrity and accountability across the bureaucracy.

According to government sources Friday, a proposed revision to ministry staffing regulations has been confirmed for the agenda of a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, to be chaired by President Lee.

At that meeting, the Cabinet will deliberate and vote on a partial amendment to a presidential decree that would add 51 audit personnel across 24 ministries. The remaining four ministries, accounting for 12 additional positions, are expected to go through a separate amendment process shortly afterward.

By ministry, the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Employment and Labor will each receive five additional positions, while the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will gain four — all reflecting specific demand identified at those agencies. Other ministries will receive smaller increases to address general staffing needs.

The breakdown includes the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Korea Forest Service receiving four positions each; the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs three; and the Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Personnel Management, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Ministry of Statistics, Intellectual Property Office, National Heritage Administration, KDCA and Financial Services Commission two each. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Government Legislation, Korea Customs Service, Public Procurement Service, Military Manpower Administration, National Fire Agency, Korea Meteorological Administration, National Human Rights Commission of Korea and Office for Government Policy Coordination will each receive one. The approved increases are expected to take effect July 21.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety, which oversees government organization planning, said the staffing revision was necessary "to close audit blind spots and actively respond to rapidly growing audit demand, as integrity and accountability standards within the civil service have risen and the complexity of the administrative environment has increased."

Recent staffing increases across government ministries have been concentrated in areas directly tied to state policy priorities. This latest measure is similarly interpreted as part of the administration's push to build a "high-performing civil service" centered on strengthening civil servant accountability.

The initiative traces directly to a presidential order. At a Cabinet meeting in late December last year, Lee said there were "quite a few people who are unfit to be public officials," adding that "particularly at senior levels, and the more they are swayed by politics, the more you see people with no ability clinging to their posts through connections." He said there were those "who are incompetent, irresponsible, with no loyalty to the state or affection for the people, yet simply occupy their positions."

Lee went on to say that "monitoring, discipline and accountability have been far too lenient," and called on each ministry to "strengthen audit functions and deploy capable audit personnel, while guaranteeing maximum autonomy."

In response, the Ministry of Interior and Safety conducted a survey of audit staffing needs across all ministries beginning in April. It then applied reinforcement criteria that took into account the characteristics of each ministry's audit workload and existing staffing levels before finalizing the increases.

A legislative notice for the revised ministerial staffing rules was issued earlier this month. The Ministry of Government Legislation review that typically follows such a notice has already been completed, and the measure was also exempted from regulatory review following prior consultation with the Prime Minister's Office. The budget for the additional positions will be covered through internal reallocation within existing appropriations for this year, with no supplementary budget or additional funding required.

Each ministry is expected to begin recruiting personnel once the increases are formally approved and headcount allocations are confirmed. The Financial Services Commission, for instance, is reviewing options to assign existing staff with audit experience or bring in outside specialists.

A Ministry of Interior and Safety official said strengthening audit functions at each ministry was "something the president has broadly emphasized," adding that the ministry "analyzed workload demand by considering factors such as the number of entities subject to audit and existing audit staffing levels, then selectively designated which ministries would receive increases — with the expansion focused on working-level personnel to enhance audit capacity."