Between Decoupling and Coupling: Focusing on the Role of Officials of the Blue House in the Process of Formation of the May 31st Education Reform

This study aims to reconstruct the formulation process of the First May 31st Education Reform Plan based on the experiences of Ministry of Education bureaucrats who worked in the Office of the Presidential Secretary for Education during the Kim Young-sam administration. It also analyzes it through the lens of sociological institutionalism. In particular, it seeks to identify the factors contributing to the plan’s success in the organizational strategy structure adopted by the Blue House. The research employes a single case study design, drawing on thematic analysis of interviews with ten officials. The findings reveal that they viewed “making a successful Education Reform Committee (ERC)” as their primary task and adopted a differentiated approach from previous reform bodies to elevate education as a significant social agenda. They also prepared concrete reference materials to ensure continuity i nto the policy f ormulation s tage. The P residential O fice’s Education Secretariat presented the civilian-expert-centered ERC as the external face of reform, thereby making it appear outwardly separated from the Secretariat. Internally, however, it pursued loose coupling between organizations by having administrative officials serve as linkers to the ERC, and by enabling them to return to the Ministry of Education to carry the process through to policy formulation, thereby ensuring the feasibility of policy implementation. This configuration exemplifies a strategic case of (de)coupling, balancing ceremonial legitimacy with practical implementability, consistent with sociological institutionalism.