Introduction

Academics have always been deeply involved in the public policy process, from providing expert advice in the agenda setting stage to conducting rigorous evaluations of programmes. They are also frequently invited to participate in all phases of policymaking as experts who serve on policy advisory bodies, partly due to the emphasis on evidence-based policymaking in recent years. However, the even more fundamental role that academics have served is conducting research on public administration and policy in relation to societal and government needs. Governments have relied on the wealth of expertise in academia to overcome their own policy analysis limitations. This comes not only in the form of direct advisory work, but also through reviews of existing research on policy topics. The latter has always been a core part of academic work, especially for those in the applied field of public administration and policy.

Over the past years, research in the field of public administration in Korea has been steadily expanding. In the 1990s, there were only 16 journals in the field of public administration and policy studies. However, the number of journals has steadily increased over the past 30 years. As of 2019, there were 84 journals published in Korea. With the number of studies in this field on the rise, it is time to examine the usefulness of public administration research by exploring the relevance of public administration studies from the perspective of the national government (Ha, 2013).

Despite the need for research on the utility of public administration, there have been few studies examining the extent to which research has aligned with the actual administrative needs of the Korean government. Since public administration is the study of governmental activities, it entails a certain level of academic exchange with the government sector (Ahn, 2006). Ahn (2006) studied how scholars in the field of public administration responded to the national agenda set forth by each administration. Park (2007) also examined whether research published in the Korean Public Administration Review was aligned with the needs of each administration from President Park Chunghee (1963– 79) to President Roh Moo-hyun (2003– 08). She analysed reports produced by the Korea Institute of Public Administration, each president's inaugural address and national speeches, and the institutional reforms conducted by each administration.