It turned out that senior officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT have a 93% chance of being approved to take jobs at related institutions and private companies after retirement.
The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) defined this phenomenon as "gwanfia" (a portmanteau of bureaucrat and mafia). It said senior officials, by taking jobs at associations or corporations after retirement, are undermining fairness in the job market and serving as shields for corporations.
On the morning of the 16th, at its auditorium in Jongno-gu, Seoul, CCEJ announced the "results of the gwanfia fact-finding survey" targeting retired officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (the ministry in charge of science and technology under the Park Geun-hye administration), and the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC).
Since last year, starting with eight key economic ministries, CCEJ has sequentially released the status of reemployment reviews for retired officials from a total of five government ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
Analyzing data posted on the Ministry of Personnel Management website, CCEJ found that out of 156 cases subject to reemployment review at the three government ministries, 142 were deemed eligible for employment or received employment approval. The average approval rate was 91%. "Eligible for employment" applies when a retired official takes a job at an institution with no business relevance, while "employment approval" can be granted even if there is business relevance, provided there are special grounds.
The reemployment approval rate was highest at the Ministry of Science and ICT with 93%, followed by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning at 87.5% and the KMCC at 83.3%. The ministry with the highest approval rate when combining "eligible for employment" and "employment approval" decisions was the Ministry of Science and ICT (93%), with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning at 87.5% and the KMCC at 83.3%.
By employment type, associations and cooperatives accounted for the most with 63 cases, followed by private corporations (39 cases) and public institutions (18 cases).
Specifically, an ordinary-grade senior official from the Ministry of Science and ICT received employment approval in May 2024 after retirement to become the full-time vice chair of the Korea Software Industry Association. An ordinary-grade senior official also became chair of the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) after retiring in June 2023.
A grade-4 science and technology employee stood out for moving to Naver after retiring in May 2024. In the case of the KMCC, a political appointee moved to Shin & Kim LLC immediately after retiring in July 2024.
CCEJ said, "'Gwanfia' is having various negative effects on our society, including collusion between officials and business and undermining fairness in the job market," adding, "Yet the government and political circles remain passive about amending laws and systems to stop it."
It then called for codifying a ban on reemployment at newly established institutions, readjusting the size thresholds for institutions subject to review, specifying the exceptional grounds for employment approval, and expanding both the scope of employment restrictions and the review period for approvals.