A performance evaluation system may contribute to the enhancement of managerial efficiency and prevention of lax management and moral hazard of public bodies in Korea. In order to achieve those purposes it is essential to secure sufficient managerial autonomy and to evaluate managerial responsibility strictly in the operation of public bodies. It is also necessary that the evaluation must be carried out to confirm the managerial performance achievement of public bodies.

This program evaluation report focuses on how much the new performance evaluation system, revised in April 2007 and confirmed in October 2008, improves the previous evaluation system. It also discusses how to make the evaluation system of public bodies more effective and efficient and reviews evaluation systems of advanced foreign countries to draw out some policy implications.

In result of this program evaluation, some problems are pointed out: first, frequent change of evaluators may cause degradation of specialty in evaluation works; second, lack of clear guidelines in appointing evaluators may cause degradation of credibility of evaluation results; third, evaluation results may not be directly linked to managerial improvement.

Recommendations to improve the evaluation system of public bodies are as follows; first, performance evaluation system needs to cover mid-term and long-term business projects not to be confined to short-term performance measurement; second, some measures needs to be taken to enhance acceptability of evaluation results by the public bodies; third, clear guidelines need to be established in the appointment of evaluators; last, evaluation results must get feedback to managerial improvement.