首爾："問題"公務員得"下鄉鍛鍊"

Scores of unsatisfactory Seoul city government employees will be ordered to meditate and to work in farms or factories to improve their attitude, officials said Thursday.

The South Korean capital has this year singled out 88 employees, 0.9 percent of its 9,844 employees, who are allegedly incompetent or lazy or truculent towards residents.

Their three-week "soul-searching" reindoctrination programme will include a trek across the country and meditation aimed at "changing their attitude and enhancing patience," the city said.

Lessons in information technology, foreign languages and 50 hours of volunteer work at farms and plants will also be included, it said.

Mayor Oh Se-Hoon launched the campaign last year, purportedly to improve efficiency.

The first-year programme ordered 102 employees to do menial jobs such as sweeping streets or picking up litter. Some 44 of these workers were eventually sacked or resigned.

But a new programme was launched after critics said menial work humiliated employees without improving their attitude.

The JoongAng Daily said this year's programme includes six senior officials.

韓國有關官員於本週四稱，首爾市政府一批工作不稱職的公務員將接受“下放鍛鍊”，他們將下到農村或工廠參加勞動、並反省自己，以改進他們的工作態度。

今年，首爾從全市9844名政府職員中選出了88名（0.9％）“問題職員”。據說，這些職員有的工作不稱職、有的懶惰，有的對待市民態度惡劣。

據介紹，此次“尋找靈魂”的再教育計劃爲期三週，其中包括長途跋涉及內心反省等內容，目的就是爲了“改變這些職員的工作態度及增強他們的耐心”。

此外，信息技術和外語培訓，以及到農村和工廠參加50個小時的志願勞動也在該項目之列。

據悉，首爾市市長吳世勳於去年提出了這項旨在提高工作效率的計劃。

不過去年的內容是掃大街和撿垃圾，在參加這些“卑微”勞動的102名“問題職員”中，約44%的人最終被解僱或辭職。

但有人認爲這種做法不僅無法改進職員的工作態度，而且會侮辱他們的人格，所以今年的做法有所改進。

據韓國《中央日報》報道，今年下放鍛鍊的“問題職員”中還包括六名高層官員。