Government at a Glance 2015

www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm

Country Fact Sheet

Korea

Women in Korea are underrepresented

in the legislative and executive branches of government
Despite some improvement since the early 2000s, women remain largely unrepresented in Parliament. With about
16.3% of women parliamentarians in 2015, Korea is below the OECD average of 28.4%. Similarly, the share of
women ministers in Korea in 2015 (5.9%), is well under OECD averages (29.3%) and has decreased compared
with 2012, despite electing a female President.
Chapter 3: Public employment and compensation
Share of women parliamentarians and legislated gender quotas
Share of women ministers

Korea is an OECD leader in Open Government Data

Opening up public data and fostering their reuse by citizens and businesses as well as inside the public adminis-
tration is a key strategic priority of the “Government 3.0” initiative launched by the Korean government in 2013.
Korea ranks first in this year’s Open, Useful, Resusable Government data Index (OURdata Index) which looks at
the level of availability and accessibility of government data on the national portal and at the level of government
support for the reuse of these data for creating public value.
Chapter 10: Digital government
OURdata Index: Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data

Public officials have more obligations than in other OECD countries

regarding asset declarations
Disclosure of private interest of public officials is one of the tools for managing conflict of interest in government.
Disclosure requirements in Korea are above the OECD average for all branches of government. In the executive
branch, top decision makers, political advisors and senior civil servants have the highest asset disclosure require-
ments. Requirements for regular civil servants are slightly lower, but still very high compared to OECD standards.
Chapter 7: Public Sector Integrity
Level of disclosure and public availability of private interests across branches of government
Level of disclosure and public availability of private interests by the level of public officials in the executive branch

Citizen satisfaction with institutions and services varies significantly

In 2014, 70% of Korean citizens reported being satisfied with the availability of health care services in the area
where they live which is similar to the OECD average. 53% of Korean citizens reported satisfaction with the
education and school system. This is below the OECD average of 67%. Less than 3 Koreans out of 10, however,
reported confidence in the judicial system, compared to 5 out of 10 across the OECD on average.
Chapter 12: Serving Citizens
Citizens’ satisfaction with the health care system
Citizens’ satisfaction with the education system
Citizens‘ confidence with the judicial system
 How to read the figures:
Values have been rounded.
Country value in blue Average of OECD countries Range of OECD country
n.a. refers to
(not represented if not available) in green values in grey
Korea data not available

GOVERNMENT INPUTS: FINANCIAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES

Public Finance & Economics Public Employment & Compensation

Public Finance and Economics

Government revenues Government expenditures Public investment Government gross debt *
(2013, 2014) (2013, 2014) (2013, 2014) (2013)
% of GDP % of GDP % of of total govt. expenditures % of GDP

34.7% 100%

Korea 2013 Korea 2013 Korea 2013 Korea

0%
33.2% 32.0% 15.9%
(2014) (2014) (2014)
37.7% 41.9% 7.8%
17.2% 109.3% 100%
33.1% 31.8%
(2013) (2013) (2013) 0%

20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250%

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts
* SNA definition, see Notes

Fiscal balance *
(2013, 2014)
% of GDP

-15% -10% -5% 0% +5% +10% +15%

1.2% 1.3% -4.2%

Korea
G@G /data
2014 2013 2013
Source: OECD National Accounts. * See Notes

Public Employment and Compensation

Public sector employment Public sector employment Share of women ministers
as % of total employment (2013) * filled by women (2013) (2015)

Korea Korea Korea

7.6% n.a. 5.9%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

21.3% 58.0% 29.3%

Source: International Labour Organization (database). * See Notes Source: International Labour Organization (database) Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union Parline Database
G@G /data
 GOVERNMENT PROCESSES
Institutions Regulatory Governance Public Procurement Public Sector Integrity Digital Government

Institutions Regulatory Governance

Level of Stakeholder engagement and consultation (2014)
influence of the
Centre of Government Stakeholder engagement to inform
Consultation on draft regulations
over line ministries officials about the problem and
or proposed rules
possible solutions
(2013)
Subordinate Subordinate
Primary laws regulations Primary laws regulations

For all
Moderate For some For all
Never subordinate
primary laws primary laws
Korea
Korea regulations

30% 3% 6% 68% 53%

59% 15% 9% 6% 18%
11% 65% 62% 18% 24%
15% 23% 6% 5%
2% 0% 2% 0%
High Moderate Low
For all primary laws / For major primary laws / For some primary laws / Not
Never applicable
subordinate regulations subordinate regulations subordinate regulations
Source: OECD 2013 Survey on Centre of Government Source: OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook (forthcoming)

Public Procurement
Procurement expenditure Strategic public procurement - Objectives
(2013) (2014)
% of government expenditures
Support for green Support for Support for innovative
public procurement SMEs goods and services
G@G /data

Korea

Korea

40.3% 29.0%
13 26 1 2 10 25 0 3 10 23 0 3

A strategy / policy has been developed by some procuring entities A strategy / policy has been rescinded
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
A strategy / policy has been developed at a central level A strategy / policy has never been developed

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: 2014 OECD Survey on Public Procurement

Digital Gov. Public Sector Integrity

OURdata Index: Level G@G
of /data
disclosure of private interests
Open, Useful, Reusable across branches of government
Government Data (2014) (2014)
Composite index
from 0 lowest to 1 highest Executive Branch Legislative Branch Judicial Branch “At risk” areas

1 88
High level 82 83 83
64
0.98 0.8 44
Korea Medium level
32
0.6 26
Low level
0.4

0.2
0.58
Korea Korea Korea Korea

0
Source: 2014 OECD Survey on Open Government Data Source: 2014 OECD Survey on Managing Conflict of Interest in the Executive Branch and Whistleblower Protection
G@G /data
 GOVERNMENT OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES
Core Government Results and Service Delivery
Satisfaction and confidence across public services (2014)
% of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

Health care
70% 71%
100

80

60

40

National government Education system

20
Korea
34% 42% 53% 67%
Average

Range

Judicial system
27% 54%
Source: Gallup World Poll

Access to healthcare (2012) Equity in learning outcomes (2012)

Out of pocket expenditure as a % of final household consumption PISA mathematics score variance by socio economic background

4.7% 2.8% 10.1% 14.8%

Korea Korea

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Source: OECD Health Statistics 2014 Source: OECD, PISA 2012 results: Excellence through equity, 2013

Changes in household disposable income, Limited government powers

by income group (2007-2011) (2014)
5%

0% 0.79
Korea
0.6% 0.9% -1.6% -0.8% -5%
Korea -10% 0.76
Bottom Top Bottom Top
10% 10% 10% 10% -15% [0.37-0.92]

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database Source: The World Justice Project

Notes
 Fiscal balance as reported in the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework, also referred to as net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of government, is calculated as total government revenues minus total government expenditures.
 Structural fiscal balance, or underlying balance, represents the fiscal balance adjusted for the state of the economic cycle (as measured by the output gap which resulted as the difference between actual and potential GDP) and one-off
fiscal operations.
 Government gross debt is reported according to the SNA definition, which differs from the definition applied under the Maastricht Treaty. It is defined as all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest or principal by the
debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. All debt instruments are liabilities, but some liabilities such as shares, equity and financial derivatives are not debt.
 Public sector employment as % of total employment data for Korea were provided by national authorities.

Government at a Glance 2015

With a focus on public administration, OECD Government at a Glance 2015 provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators assembled with the
goal of contributing to the analysis and international comparison of public sector performance across OECD countries. Indicators on public finances
and employment are provided alongside composite indexes summarising aspects of public management policies, and indicators on services to
citizens in health care, education, and justice. Government at a Glance 2015 also includes indicators on key governance and public management
issues, such as regulatory management, budgeting practices and procedures, public sector integrity, public procurement and core government
results in terms of trust in institutions, income redistribution and efficiency and cost-effectiveness of governments.

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance 2015 are available
via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2015-en
For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes)
and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm