Environment ministry to put water control experts to forefront after criticism

The Environment Minister is checking the situation of intensive heavy rain with related agencies at the Han River Flood Control Office in Seoul on July 18. [Photo provided by MOE]

The Ministry of Environment (MOE), which has come under fire from President Yoon Suk Yeol for its unsatisfactory response to recent heavy rains, plans to strengthen its water management organization.

A key measure will be the deployment of 300 experts and officials transferred from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), which was confirmed Wednesday by sources, including senior officials at the ruling party and at the presidential office.

The reorganization plan comes after Yoon made a comment at a cabinet meeting on July 18, saying, “Water management was transferred from the MOLIT to the MOE during the last government, so it’s necessary for the MOE to reorganize and manage it more actively.”

“We took it as a message to reorganize and exert our utmost efforts, putting safety first,” said an official at the presidential office.

A proposal to transfer water management functions from the MOE to the MOLIT, which had been mentioned by some, is likely to be ruled out for now. Government officials agree that now is the time to focus on recovery rather than reorganization.

The ruling party also offered an interpretation of Yoon’s remarks, saying he was not referring to the transfer of water management functions from the MOE to the MOLIT.

“I understand President Yoon’s words as an encouragement to the MOE to do a better job,” said Kim Gi-hyeon, the leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP). “I think what we need to do now is to take measures for those who suffered from the heavy rains, to prevent recurrence, and to focus our energy and strength on that first.”

As for the reorganization of the Government Organization Act, it is not easy for the government to push ahead with its will as the opposition party has more seats than the ruling party right now. The PPP has proposed a bill to amend the law to reassign water conservation, use and development and river management to the MOLIT, which was transferred to the MOE last year, but it has yet to be passed by the National Assembly.

The unification of water management functions at government agencies began in earnest in 2017 and was transferred from the MOLIT to the MOE in 2018 shortly after the Moon Jae-in administration was launched. For the past 30 years, it has been a dual system in which the MOLIT manages water quantity management, such as multi-regional waterworks and dams, and the MOE manages water quality.

Since the transfer of water management to the MOE, the ministry’s management capabilities have been under scrutiny and controversy. Unlike environmental conservation, which the MOE has been focusing on, water control and management requires separate know-how. In June 2021, the MOE creates a bureau for water management policy, recruiting some MOLIT officials, and recently appointed the bureau head from the MOLIT.