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Several nominees raise concerns about conflicts of interest
Out of the 19 candidates for Cabinet ministers nominated by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, six are former outside directors at private businesses. If these nominees are appointed, the incoming cabinet might be called the "Cabinet of outside directors." Already, concerns are mounting about whether they will reasonably handle matters where their former employers' interests are involved.
Prime Minister-nominee Han Duck-soo received a lot of money while serving as an adviser to Kim & Chang, the nation's largest law firm. Han had also worked as an outside director of S Oil since March 2021 before he resigned early this month. Lee Chang-yang, the nominee for trade, industry and energy minister, served as an outside director for TCK, SK hynix, and LG Display from 2009 to 2021.
Besides, Park Bo-gyoon, tapped as culture, sports and tourism minister, was an outside director at Shinsegae International. Lee Sang-min (nominee for public administration and security minister), Han Wha-jin (nominee for environment minister), and Chung Hwang-keun (nominee for agriculture, fisheries and food minister) once worked as outside directors at AK Holdings, Samsung Electronics, and NongHyup Holdings, respectively.
Initially, the outside director system was introduced to watch managers and ensure transparent management. However, it has long degenerated into a system where large shareholders or top managers give posts to professors, former bureaucrats, and judicial officers to "manage" them. Most noticeable in Yoon's nomination of ministerial candidates were former bureaucrats returning to officialdom after working as outside directors at private companies. Even more worrying are the attitudes of some appointees who ignore the concerns about "conflicts of interest."
Asked to comment on such worries, Lee, the nominee for trade-industry minister, said, "I have since resigned from all outside directorships." It is questionable how a person with such a level of ethics will perform official duties properly. Lee Hye-hoon, a former lawmaker who lost in the gubernatorial primary for North Chungcheong Province, said on a radio talk show, "I also have received many proposals to work as an outside director since leaving the National Assembly but rejected them to avoid conflicts of interest when I return to public office." Yoon and his nominees should listen.
