Scores of unsatisfactory Seoul city government employees will be ordered to meditate¹ and to work in farms or factories to improve their attitude, officials said Thursday.
 
Scores of unsatisfactory Seoul city government employees will be ordered to meditate and to work in farms or factories to improve their attitude, officials said Thursday.

The South Korean capital has this year singled out 88 employees, 0.9 percent of its 9,844 employees, who are allegedly incompetent² or lazy or truculent³ towards residents.

Their three-week "soul-searching" reindoctrination programme will include a trek⁴ across the country and meditation⁵ aimed at "changing their attitude and enhancing patience," the city said.

Lessons in information technology, foreign languages and 50 hours of volunteer work at farms and plants will also be included, it said.

Mayor Oh Se-Hoon launched the campaign last year, purportedly⁶ to improve efficiency.

The first-year programme ordered 102 employees to do menial jobs such as sweeping⁷ streets or picking up litter. Some 44 of these workers were eventually sacked or resigned.

But a new programme was launched after critics said menial work humiliated⁸ employees without improving their attitude.

The JoongAng Daily said this year's programme includes six senior officials.

 
韩国有关官员于本周四称，首尔市政府一批工作不称职的公务员将接受“下放锻炼”，他们将下到农村或工厂参加劳动、并反省自己，以改进他们的工作态度。

今年，首尔从全市9844名政府职员中选出了88名（0.9％）“问题职员”。据说，这些职员有的工作不称职、有的懒惰，有的对待市民态度恶劣。

据介绍，此次“寻找灵魂”的再教育计划为期三周，其中包括长途跋涉及内心反省等内容，目的就是为了“改变这些职员的工作态度及增强他们的耐心”。

此外，信息技术和外语培训，以及到农村和工厂参加50个小时的志愿劳动也在该项目之列。

据悉，首尔市市长吴世勋于去年提出了这项旨在提高工作效率的计划。

不过去年的内容是扫大街和捡垃圾，在参加这些“卑微”劳动的102名“问题职员”中，约44%的人最终被解雇或辞职。

但有人认为这种做法不仅无法改进职员的工作态度，而且会侮辱他们的人格，所以今年的做法有所改进。

据韩国《中央日报》报道，今年下放锻炼的“问题职员”中还包括六名高层官员。

Vocabulary: 

truculent:凶狠的；野蛮的