Blacklists and bureaucracy: navigating accountability in South Korean public administration

Public officials in a complex modern state may be challenged by conflicting accountability expectations. Work is yet to be done that adequately pulls together an emphasis on the response of public servants toward multiple accountabilities disorder, especially in South Korea. The purpose of this article was to demonstrate multiple accountabilities disorder with a case study of the so-called blacklist scandal in Korea. In particular, we examined how public officials behave in the response of the inappropriate directions to threaten the rights of artists. Our case study showed that the career public officials experienced dilemmatic multiple accountabilities disorder and either kept silent or raised their voice against the inappropriate directions from political appointees. Furthermore, our study is significant in that we identified the strategic activities of officials that Hirschman and his successors failed to identify. Strengthening strategic activities could contribute to enhancing the understanding of the Guardian State, which has recently received attention in the public administration academia against democratic backsliding.