As President Lee Jae-myung anticipates a government reorganization, interest is growing in the changes at the Statistics Korea, an external agency under the Ministry of Economy and Finance. This is because it has been reported that the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning is considering plans to expand or independence of Statistics Korea.
According to the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning's strategy for 'Real Growth in Korea' on the 26th, it is stated that the management authorities of data dispersed among different ministries should be unified.
The plan is to restructure Statistics Korea as an independent agency from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, allowing for comprehensive management of national statistical data. According to the current Government Organization Act, Statistics Korea is under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, overseeing statistical standards, population censuses, and various statistics.
The background for considering the expansion of Statistics Korea stems from the increasing importance of data due to the development of artificial intelligence (AI), aimed at building comprehensive statistics. Academics and the private sector have continuously pointed out that 'while the government has made efforts to gather public data, such as past data dam projects, there is actually a lack of public data that can be utilized for AI.'
Statistics Korea currently manages public data, obtaining and processing various administrative data before providing it for use by policy departments. However, the data is scattered across departments, and in many cases, statistical linkages are not possible due to personal information protection policies.
Previously, Statistics Korea requested data from the National Tax Service for developing comprehensive pension statistics, but it took about 4 to 5 years to receive information. At that time, former Commissioner Ryu Geun-kwan pointed out that 'the environmental changes are rapid, but the production of meaningful statistics is painfully slow,' also pushing for the independence of Statistics Korea.
If Statistics Korea is upgraded or becomes independent, it is expected that integrating the dispersed data among departments will make it easier to diagnose the situation or amend relevant laws to collect statistics. A government official said, 'Currently, Statistics Korea is under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, so the ministry must lead the revision of Statistics Korea’s regulations, which slows down the process. However, if Statistics Korea becomes an independent agency, the amendment of regulations or integration of data could be expedited.'
Professor Cho Seong-bae of Yonsei University’s Department of Computer Science said, 'Statistics Korea currently stops at analyzing and interpreting data, but now it should also focus on creating data for use in AI or big data.' He added, 'Statistics Korea should gather public data in consideration of building AI and big data services or models in the future.'
The Presidential Committee on Policy Planning also believes that the expansion of Statistics Korea could help broaden access to public data, generate missing data, or synthesize data. In this case, high-quality statistics could be established, potentially enhancing the database. Additionally, it is noted that 'a department capable of encrypting and sharing data should also be newly established to allow Statistics Korea to share private data.'
Meanwhile, the independence of Statistics Korea is considered important because it may be 'resistant to political winds when producing statistics.' This is due to past accusations that Statistics Korea aligned its statistics with the government's preferences.
Statistics Korea has been criticized for having developed new Gini coefficients during the Lee Myung-bak administration and not announcing them, and during the Moon Jae-in administration, it was alleged that it manipulated and distorted statistics regarding income, dwellings, and employment under the Blue House's instructions.
Abroad, Statistics Korea often exists as an independent agency, or the head of Statistics Korea is guaranteed a long term to avoid political pressure. Germany and Italy classify their statistical offices as independent agencies, while France also legally guarantees independence for the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. The Central Statistics Office of Ireland is under the Prime Minister but has a head term of 10 years and 3 months, which is longer than the presidential term of 7 years. The head of the German Federal Statistical Office and the head of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in France serve terms of 6.6 years and 8 years, respectively.
However, it is uncertain whether Statistics Korea will actually be expanded or become independent from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Earlier, during the early term of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, discussions arose regarding securing the independence of Statistics Korea and upgrading it, but only the elevation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the establishment of the Overseas Koreans Agency were passed. Statistics Korea was also not included in the agenda for the previous Presidential Committee on Policy Planning, and the dispatch of its staff to the committee was also delayed, leading to analysis that the new government is not very interested in Statistics Korea.