A symposium was held to review the implementation results and challenges of the newly introduced integrated financial project performance evaluation and to discuss improvement directions for the overall financial performance management system.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced that it co-hosted the 'Productive Financial Management, Detailed Performance Management - 2026 Financial Performance Management Symposium' on September 22 at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Public Finance and the Korea Financial Information Service.
Attendees included Minister of Strategy and Finance Park Hong-keun, Korea Institute of Public Finance President Lee Young, National Assembly Future Research Institute President Kim Ki-sik, Korean Association of Public Administration President Sung Si-kyung, evaluation teams related to financial performance, experts in relevant fields, and performance management officials from central ministries and affiliated agencies, totaling over 160 participants.
The event covered the results and challenges of the first implementation of the integrated financial project performance evaluation, shared evidence-based performance management cases, and discussed the development directions for performance goal management and fund evaluation.
In his opening remarks, Minister Park stated, "We are creating a V-shaped economic recovery through a shift to active finance to overcome the economic downturn," adding, "More important than the quantitative expansion of finance is ensuring that not a single penny of taxpayers' money is wasted, which reflects the 'qualitative performance of finance.'"
He continued, "We have completely overhauled the previously separate evaluation system operated by each ministry and evaluation type, introducing the 'integrated financial project performance evaluation' this year to create a new turning point in financial performance management. We will continuously improve and develop the system to ensure that integrated evaluation can take root as a sustainable framework for financial innovation, reflecting the experiences and voices from the field of the first implementation."
Minister Park also emphasized, "Financial performance management is not merely a tool for budget cuts. It is a key driver to establish a virtuous cycle structure of 'active finance - economic growth - fiscal soundness' by focusing resources on essential areas such as future growth engines and youth support, while phasing out outdated projects and reinvesting in verified performance areas."
The first session of the symposium reviewed the results of the first implementation of the integrated evaluation. Jeong Chang-gil, Director of the Financial Performance Bureau, presented the background for the introduction of the integrated financial project evaluation, while Woo Seok-jin, head of the financial project evaluation team, shared insights from the field regarding the integrated evaluation experience. Professors Kim Wan-hee and Kang Hee-woo analyzed the 2026 integrated financial project evaluation based on data.
The second session introduced evidence-based performance management cases. Kim Bong-seop, a deputy researcher at the National Assembly Future Research Institute, presented an empirical study on the effects of youth policies across different social strata and improvements in the youth labor market. Kim Moon-jung, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Public Finance, shared related cases on youth policies, while Kim Sang-hyo, a researcher at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, discussed data construction and performance evaluation cases for rural basic income.
The third session focused on discussing improvement measures for the overall performance management system. Professors Jeong Jang-hoon, Ko Sun, and Kim Ji-young, along with Lee Seung-hwan from the Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, presented the discussions from the 'Performance Management Improvement Task Force' that has been operating since July.
Strategies to strengthen the linkage between financial project evaluation results and expenditure restructuring, as well as to enhance the effectiveness of performance goal management and fund evaluation systems, were also discussed. In the final panel discussion, moderated by Sung Si-kyung, experts exchanged views on the development direction of financial performance management.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance plans to establish the 'Second Basic Plan for Performance Management (2027-2031)' by the end of this year, reflecting the opinions of academic and field experts presented at this symposium.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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