Professor Han Jong-su of Ewha Womans University raised an issue, saying fairness was damaged in the process of appointing the head of the Korea Accounting Standards Board.
In a statement on the 22nd, Professor Han said, "The series of events that occurred in the recent appointment process seriously damages not only my conscience as a scholar and my honor as a professional, but also the value of fairness in our society."
According to Professor Han, earlier the Accounting Standards Board conducted candidate interviews through the Head Recommendation Committee on the 11th to appoint a head, and recommended Professor Han as the first choice and Professor Gwak Byung-jin of KAIST as the second.
He went on to explain that the board of directors also approved the original plan on the 16th. However, at the general meeting of members of the Accounting Standards Board held on the 19th, a vote was held on the first-choice candidate, Professor Han, and the second-choice candidate, Professor Gwak, as recommended by the recommendation committee, and Professor Gwak was appointed the next head.
Professor Han also said some outlets "thoroughly ignored my 40 years of expertise and achievements and maliciously framed me with 'defending specific corporations' and 'political bias,' damaging my credibility," adding, "The allegation of collusion with Samsung is groundless."
Regarding criticism that he submitted an opinion to the Financial Supervisory Service while serving on the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee that Samsung Biologics' accounting treatment was lawful, he said, "The opinion on Samsung Biologics was submitted as an independent expert, and its legitimacy has already been proven by a not-guilty ruling by the court," adding, "My comments related to rogue accounting likewise emphasized a public-interest perspective of 'insurance consumer protection' premised on accounting transparency, and did not represent any specific corporations."
Professor Han explained, "I have maintained political neutrality. I have never had ties with, or held a political post in, any particular administration, including the previous one, and have only served the nation as a professional Commissioner at agencies such as the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)."
Professor Han said it is hard to accept that the recommendation committee's evaluation was reversed at the final stage. "The evaluation by the recommendation committee, which had the highest level of expertise, was reversed at the final stage without a reasonable cause," he said. "The committee recommended me as the first-choice candidate, but at the general meeting held just eight days later, the outcome was overturned."
He continued, "If a decisive flaw or disqualification had arisen for the nominee between the recommendation committee and the general meeting, and if that were true, I think the ranking should be reversed," adding, "However, during those eight days, there was no decisive flaw—such as unethical conduct by the nominee—that would change the recommendation committee's result."
Citing a report on the 21st by some outlets that claimed a particular institution exerted influence over the voting process at the general meeting of the Korea Accounting Standards Board, Professor Han said, "If this report is true, the most important value of the Korea Accounting Standards Board—fairness—has been damaged."
He said, "This series of events in the appointment process will be one reason Korea's accounting transparency has received the lowest evaluations, and it will remain a major obstacle going forward," adding, "I strongly ask that you thoroughly uncover the unfairness and suspicions throughout this appointment process."