Global MPM Insight

The Role of Personnel Administration ODA and Korea’s Response Strategy in the Era of Great Transformation in Development Cooperation Global MPM Insight Vol.5 4. Strategic Tasks for Enhancing the Quality of Korea’s Personnel Administration ODA Building on Korea’s remarkable progress in personnel administration and the accumulation of exemplary practices, several strategic approaches should be strengthened so that Korea’s personnel administration ODA can contribute more effectively to national capacity building in developing countries. First, Korea needs to design an integrated support model for personnel administration ODA that goes beyond an approach centered on individual systems or specific target groups. In other words, by establishing a mid-to-long-term program that organically combines the entire HR management cycle (from recruitment to capability development) with the job-based system and digital HR information systems that integrate and link these processes, Korea can successfully facilitate the institutionalization of integrated personnel systems in recipient countries. Second, the institutionalization of co-creation with recipient countries should be strengthened. Rather than unilaterally transferring Korea’s personnel systems, Korea and the recipient country should jointly design a phased roadmap that reflects the recipient country’s political and administrative context, as well as its specific demand for government innovation. This is essential because ODA outcomes are difficult to sustain unless they are firmly anchored in the recipient country’s own needs. Third, linkages between personnel administration ODA and digital/AI transformation ODA should be strengthened. Digital HRM systems are more than tools for administrative efficiency; they are essential for reinforcing government accountability and enhancing public trust in the public sector. Sharing Korea’s experience in digital personnel administration can help consolidate citizens’ confidence in recipient country governments, thereby improving the sustainability of public sector innovation and ensuring that its achievements endure over the long term. Fourth, there is a need for an approach that transforms HR challenges commonly faced by both donor and developing countries into strategic agendas for development cooperation. Recently, major donor countries such as Korea and Japan have encountered new challenges across personnel administration as a whole due to growing public sector attrition among young people and shifts in public service culture, and developing countries likewise are already facing - or will soon face - similar trends over the mid-to-long-term. In this context, efforts to build a shared understanding of these emerging personnel administration challenges and to elevate them into policy agendas for development cooperation will be an important starting point for exploring new directions for personnel administration ODA going forward. Notable achievements include the establishment of job-centered personnel management, improvements to civil service performance evaluation and compensation systems, the operation of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) system, and the restructuring of the national civil service education and training framework - initiatives that are internationally regarded as exemplary because they move beyond formal adoption to encompass substantial operational experience. In addition, Korea’s personnel management practices enabled by digital HR information systems, such as the electronic HR management system (e-Saram) operated by the MPM, are widely seen as enhancing the transparency and efficiency of personnel administration while strengthening the linkage between institutional design and day-to-day operations. The OECD, in its assessment of Korea’s digital government achievements, likewise underscores that public sector human resource development efforts and the resulting accumulation of competencies have served as a vital foundation alongside technical factors (OECD, 2025). 5. Way Forward We are currently in an era of “great transformation,” marked by rapid shifts in both the internal and external dynamics surrounding development cooperation. In this context, personnel administration is emerging as a pivotal asset for state capacity. Korea’s personnel administration ODA holds the potential to move beyond the mere transfer of domestic systems to recipient countries and instead become an integrated model that supports institutional designs tailored to each recipient’s unique development context, while incorporating the lessons and insights gained through Korea’s own operational experience. I look forward to personnel administration ODA evolving into a core field that drives the qualitative advancement of Korea’s development cooperation, eventually contributing to the self-reliance of recipient countries. Han, Seungheon. (2025). Challenges and Opportunities for Korea’s International Development Cooperation in an Era of Great Transformation. Presentation materials for the Breakfast Seminar of the National Assembly Forum on Global Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Affairs (November 27, 2025). OECD. (2023). 2023 OECD digital government index . OECD Public Governance Policy Papers. Retrieved January 31, 2026, from https://www.oecd.org/governance/digital-government/digital-government-index/ OECD. (2025). Digital government review of Korea: Harnessing digital and data to transform government . OECD Digital Government Studies. Retrieved January 31, 2026, from https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/digital-government-review-of-korea_9defc197-en.html Siegel, G. B., & Myrtle, R. C. (1985). Public personnel administration: Concepts and practices . Houghton Mifflin. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2021, September 30). Final evaluation of the governance and public administration reform (GPAR) – Governance for inclusive development programme (GIDP) . Retrieved January 31, 2026, from https://erc.undp.org/evaluation/documents/download/19678 World Bank. (2023, June 11). Global initiative for public administration reform (GIPAR) . Retrieved January 31, 2026, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/governance/brief/global-initiative-for-public-administration- reform-gipar World Bank. (2025). GovTech maturity index 2025: Tracking public sector digital transformation worldwide (GTMI 2025 Brief). Retrieved January 31, 2026, from https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/6c6039890ded13838f604eff31f3aa8 8-0350092025/ original/2025-GTMI-Brief.pdf References 32 33