The government plans to dismiss underperforming public officials while giving incentives to those who receive higher marks on performance evaluations, officials said Thursday.

The decision released by the Ministry of Personnel Management underscored South Korea's latest efforts to reform the public sector, whose jobs have long been called an "iron rice bowl" because of the solid job security found there.

Public servants who either receive the lowest score on two performance evaluations or are given no assignments for a certain period of time will be sent to a disciplinary committee, the ministry officials said.

The committee then will make a decision and those who are deemed unqualified to serve in the public sector will be immediately discharged, they said.

Meanwhile, the government will offer higher incentives to public servants with high scores on their performance evaluations, according to the ministry.

Just weeks ago, representatives from labor unions, management and the government reached an agreement that allows private companies to dismiss workers who are either negligent or underperforming.

Under the current labor law, companies can terminate an employee's contract if they are either involved in corruption or embezzlement. Companies are also allowed to layoff a certain number of workers at a time when facing serious financial difficulty. (Yonhap)