Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Seen above is the Seoul office of Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), a financial institution that operates under the wing of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The corporation recently appointed four figures who have connections with the government and the ruling party as its standing and outside directors. Korea Times file |
By Yi Whan-woo
The administration of President Moon Jae-in, whose single, five-year term is nearing the end, is drawing criticism as a number of pro-government and pro-ruling party figures are being parachuted into high-level posts at multiple public financial institutions. Moon has strongly criticized that practice while running the office.
According to sources familiar with the matter, at least two state-run financial institutions appointed new auditors between late December and this month who have connections with the government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
The two are Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) and Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO), which all operate under the wing of the Ministry of Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Four standing and outside directors at KDIC were affiliated with the DPK and its predecessors.
Among them is Kim Jung-beom, a lawyer who was previously a senior member of a DPK-run political think tank as well as a 2004 general election candidate for the Uri Party, a DPK predecessor in the first decade of the 2000s.
Kim was appointed as a KDIC outside director, Dec. 30.
The remaining three worked as either DPK campaign staff during the 2020 parliamentary elections or as policymakers.
KAMCO named Won Ho-joon, who was in charge of the unmanned weaponry business at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), during its shareholder meeting on Jan. 14, prompting protest from union members who argued that such an appointment is "far from common sense" as DAPA deals with military projects.
The parachute appointments at KDIC and KAMCO follow a similar selection at Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, which manages the country's inter-bank payment systems.
The institute in September scouted a former senior Cheong Wa Dae staff member as its director, with an annual salary of 240 million ($200,000), which was seen as excessive considering the appointee has no career background in relation to his new job.
Such "parachute appointments" have been disputed for years as most of the appointees were named to top and senior positions through their ties with the government, although they lack the experience and expertise to oversee their respective organizations.
The Moon administration is especially drawing criticism, as the President stressed fair competition in his election campaign five years ago and pointed to the cessation of such appointments as a supreme policy goal in his party's stance against corruption.
Experts point out that expertise and experience should be the criteria for an appointment, not simply connections with the administration.
"It will be difficult to exclude those who have political connections with the government as candidates for top posts of public entities, but even so, their experience and expertise in relation to such positions should be taken into account," said Sung Tae-yoon, an economics professor at Yonsei University.
