Professor Park Gu-yong, Lee Jae-myung's Ethics for Public Officials and Collective Intelligence

Introduction

On July 14, 2025, President Lee Jae-myung delivered a special lecture lasting about 25 minutes to the 5th grade civil servant trainees. This lecture, which included a Q&A session, went beyond simple job instructions or motivation, encapsulating the President's distinct views on the role and responsibilities of public officials and the structure of the public service. The analysis and interpretation of this lecture were conducted by Professor Park Gu-yong of Chonnam National University’s Department of Philosophy. On July 18, 2025, Professor Park appeared on TBS's "Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Difficult News Factory," where he shed light on the content of President Lee's lecture from a philosophical perspective, discussing the ethical and structural issues faced by today's South Korean public service. Kim Eo-jun approached this from an investigative reporting angle, and their conversation contributed richly to revealing the structural implications of the President's remarks. This essay analyzes from multiple angles the meaning of President Lee's views on the duties of civil servants, the structure of responsibility, and the understanding of collective intelligence in the context of the reestablishment of civil servant ethics.

Blame for failure and the inhibition of the public sector

President Lee Jae-myung pointed out that the biggest problem in the public service is the 'culture of excessive accountability for failure' in the opening of his lecture. The president stated, "It's strange that we have developed an atmosphere where I am questioned about 'why I made that decision' for a failure that could happen even when I acted with good intentions." This acts as a structural element that hinders public officials from working creatively with discretion. The president noted that 'when there is a possibility of accountability, they are likely to avoid taking action at all,' leading to a rigidity in society as a whole. This diagnosis criticizes the passive administrative attitude that encourages public officials to perform only the tasks prescribed by regulations and expresses concern over the stifling of genuine public responsibility. This indicates a culture where public officials are more likely to evade problems or rely solely on upper management instructions rather than striving to resolve issues to the best of their ability within their roles.

The perspective that public officials should be 'platforms'

The president's perspective on the role of public officials can be summarized as “public officials should be a platform.” This metaphor used by President Lee Jae-myung during a Q&A session indicates that public officials should serve as a neutral space where various opinions and perspectives can be coordinated, enabling the realization of the public good. President Lee stated, “To me, it looks like a circle, but some people might see it as a square,” and emphasized, “Only those who can imagine a square circle can truly be a public official.” This analogy conveys the message not to judge matters through a single perspective or logic, but to empathize with the viewpoints of various members of society and expand the scope of judgment. Such a stance positions public officials not as unidimensional judges but as mediators and coordinators where multiple perspectives intersect. This presents a new type of public official that requires not just administrative skills, but also political imagination and philosophical reflection.

The combination of collective intelligence and populism

Professor Park Gu-yong analyzed President Lee Jae-myung's political inclination as "intellectual populism." He assessed that "President Lee Jae-myung has combined populism with collective intelligence." Populism appeals to the desires and emotions of the masses to gain political support, and it can carry the risk of leading to extreme right-wing fascism when combined with anti-intellectualism. However, Professor Park views President Lee's populism as recognizing the public not as objects of mobilization, but as "cooperating subjects," with collective intelligence functioning as the central concept in this process. Collective intelligence refers to the process by which a large number of citizens collaboratively make public decisions based on their own knowledge and experiences. This means a realization of participatory governance based on horizontal empathy and discussion, rather than a vertical mobilization system based on directives and orders. President Lee Jae-myung focuses on coordinating and integrating multiple judgments, rather than having public officials bear the "responsibility of judgment" alone within this structure.

Relationship with the 'accompanying group' rather than the 'mobilized group'

Professor Park Gu-yong emphasized the distinction between 'mobilization' and 'companionship' in President Lee Jae-myung's perception of public officials. He interpreted that “President Lee's approach is to engage with groups not as a mobilized entity but as companions.” Mobilization refers to a method of moving members within a top-down vertical structure. In contrast, companionship acknowledges the autonomy and judgment of each member, moving together towards a common goal in a horizontal structure. This philosophy influences not only the president's administrative style but also the structure of public officials' ethics. The president tells public officials to “do their best based on their expertise” and has stated that he will take ultimate responsibility for the results, thereby creating an environment where public officials can design and implement policies through autonomous judgment. This attitude recognizes public officials not merely as executors but as co-designers and partners in policy, inherently embodying a new ethical structure.

Symbolism and Ethical Redefinition of Grade 5 Public Officials

Level 5 public officials are regarded as 'administrative elites' in our society. From a traditional perspective, they correspond to the status of 'those who passed the civil service examination in the past,' and Professor Park Gu-yong has likened them to 'quasi-governors,' attributing symbolic meaning to this role. President Lee Jae-myung's direct lectures and Q&A sessions with these officials can be interpreted not merely as encouragement, but as a symbolic declaration to first apply and demand a new framework of public ethics from them. Level 5 public officials will soon be appointed as administrative officers and will stand at the forefront of policy implementation, with their judgments and decisions having a direct impact on citizens' lives. Thus, the President's emphasis on 'responsibility,' 'collective intelligence,' and 'diversity of perspectives' in conversations with these officials can be assessed as a practical act for the reestablishment of public ethics.

Speech Style and 'Unedited Information Disclosure' Policy

There are evaluations that President Lee Jae-myung's speeches are written in an ornate style. Professor Park Gu-yong pointed out that the speech has a complex sentence structure, which can make it difficult to understand. Kim Eo-jun also agreed that 'it would be better to change it to shorter sentences.' In contrast, the president's Q&A sessions stood out for their concise and intuitive style, receiving praise for the more profound impact of real-time responses and interactions. Additionally, the president instructed that videos of his official events be publicly released unedited through KTV. This is an attempt to bypass the media's 'pool' reporting system and create an environment where citizens can directly judge the unedited footage. This strategy simultaneously enhances the democracy of information access and the transparency of public officials' conduct, and it is also a political strategy aimed at securing ethical responsibility by 'not hiding but disclosing'.

Politics of Recognition: Building Trust in Public Officials

President Lee Jae-myung does not belittle public officials as "soulless beings," but rather recognizes and encourages them as "important beings." Kim Eo-jun stated, "This president starts from acknowledging the other party," emphasizing that this way of speaking is a significant characteristic that distinguishes him from other politicians. Professor Park Gu-yong also evaluated that the president does not simply stop at a one-time comprehensive acknowledgment, but repeatedly uses language throughout his statements to recognize the roles and values of public officials. This attitude is not about top-down directives, but rather aims for collaboration based on mutual respect, ultimately motivating public officials to work with both autonomy and a sense of responsibility. Relationships based on this recognition not only strengthen the individual ethics of public officials but also become a driving force for creating a mature public culture both institutionally and culturally.

Conclusion

The ethical standards for public officials proposed by President Lee Jae-myung go beyond mere administrative regulations or moral admonitions. They represent a philosophical attempt to readjust the "structure of responsibility," expand the "subject of judgment," and realize a collaborative framework based on "collective intelligence." As Professor Park Gu-yong stated, this corresponds to the task of "completely rewriting" public officials' ethics. If the existing public sector has remained rooted in a culture of passivity and hierarchy, President Lee Jae-myung seeks to restructure it with horizontal responsibility, empathy, and collective imagination. The special lecture aimed at grade 5 civil servants was a declaration towards the "first readers" of such ethics, clarifying that the role assigned to public officials transcends that of mere executors and instead positions them as "partners in judgment." Ultimately, this ethics is not just a concern for civil servants it can be seen as a political philosophical practice designed to create a structure where everyone collaborates to realize publicness.