Global MPM Insight

The 10th Heads of Personnel Authorities Meeting of China, Japan and Korea The 10th Heads of Personnel Authorities Meeting of China, Japan and Korea, held in Seoul from September 29 to 30, 2025, carried significance beyond that of a routine meeting. It marked the 20th anniversary of the Trilateral Network on Public Personnel Administration, which was launched in 2005 with the signing of an MOU. Over the past two decades, despite fluctuations in the geopolitical landscape of Northeast Asia, the three countries have consistently maintained trust and cooperation in the fundamental and essential field of public personnel administration. Building upon this accumulated foundation, the meeting served as an opportunity to reaffirm a renewed commitment toward the next generation. Jung Haeyoung Assistant Director of Public Officials Occupational Accident Compensation Policy Division, MPM Reflecting on the 20th Anniversary Commemorative Trilateral Meeting Heads of Personnel Authorities Meeting of China, Japan and Korea THE 10 th 1 Sustained Partnership, aMature Network Since its inaugural meeting in 2005, the Trilateral Meeting has been convened ten times without ever being fully suspended. Even amid rapidly changing international circumstances and periods when in-person exchanges were not feasible, cooperation has continued to evolve flexibly through online meetings, joint research, and joint training programs for young civil servants. This stands as a symbolic example demonstrating that public personnel administration is a field that places greater value on continuity and trust than on short-term outcomes. At the 10th meeting, the three countries reviewed the outcomes of their cooperation and formally affirmed that the Trilateral Network on Public Personnel Administration has evolved from an information-sharing channel into a regular and mature policy consultative mechanism. Its multi-tiered framework - comprising ministerial meetings, director-general–level meetings, symposiums, and exchanges among young civil servants - has served as an effective platform for addressing shared challenges while respecting differences in national systems. International Cooperation 70 Global MPM Insight Vol.5 71