Chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik on the 4th sharply criticized the practice of preferential treatment for former public institution officials and ordered measures to prevent a recurrence. He cited Doseonghoe, an association of retirees from the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC), as a representative case, signaling a move to break the monopoly at highway rest areas.
At a senior secretaries' meeting that afternoon, Kang said, "For decades, the public has suffered damages due to illegal and improper preferential treatment for public institution retirees," calling it "an act that betrays the duties of public institutions."
In particular, he pointed to Doseonghoe, an association of Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) retirees, as a problematic example. Kang said, "Doseonghoe has operated highway rest areas irrespective of its founding purpose and has distributed excessive revenue," and urged the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to swiftly prepare anti-preferential treatment measures so that rest areas are run based on principles and common sense.
He also said, "We need efforts to restore public trust, such as recouping unjust gains and requesting investigations into illegalities," and directed the Ministry of Economy and Finance to inspect similar cases across all public institutions and draw up measures to prevent a recurrence.
Kang also raised the issue of illegal online gambling by teenagers. Kang said, "Teen gambling can lead not only to addiction but also to dropping out of school, family conflict, worsening mental health, and secondary crimes, making it a matter that threatens public safety beyond an individual problem," and ordered an active review of expanding nationwide the "teen gambling voluntary reporting system" currently run by eight city and provincial police agencies, including the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency.
He also instructed the Korean National Police Agency and the Ministry of Education, among related agencies, to prepare ways to raise voluntary reporting rates, such as mitigating penalties upon self-reporting or easing school disciplinary measures.