Two political appointees who worked in the presidential office under Yoon Suk-yeol's administration can now be hired by law firms after leaving their positions. An official who worked as a 'Head of Team' at the Ministry of Economy and Finance has opened the path to move to a manager position at Coupang.
The Ministry of Personnel Management revealed the results of employment reviews for retired public officials on the 31st. According to current law, public officials at level 4 and above, as well as executives of public-related organizations, must undergo employment reviews to be re-employed in institutions subject to the reviews within three years after retirement.
If there is no close relevance in work relations between the department or institution the individual belonged to during the last five years before retirement and the institution they plan to join, a decision of 'employment possible' or 'employment approval' will be made. Employment approval is granted if work relevance is acknowledged, but recognized as having special reasons under the law for employment approval.
Out of a total of 79 cases, 11 were reviewed for employment in a 'law firm'. Accordingly, two political appointees who retired from the presidential office last month were notified that they could respectively join the law firms Daeryuk Ajou as lawyers and YK as advisory members. One political appointee who retired from the National Intelligence Service last month was also able to work as an advisor at Yulchon, and two political appointees from the National Human Rights Commission were able to work as advisory lawyers at Class Hangel and as member lawyers at Gangnam law firm.
In contrast, two deputy chiefs from the Korean National Police Agency, who attempted to re-employ as professionals at Yulchon and Dongin law firms, were notified of 'employment restrictions' as the work they were responsible for before retirement was recognized as relevant to the employment institution. Three retirees from the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), Army, and the Ministry of Science and ICT, who attempted employment at Hanwha Aerospace, the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives, and the Korea Radio Promotion Association, also received 'employment disapproval' in the review and are unable to work at the respective institutions.
Despite being subject to employment review, a request was made to the competent court for fines to be imposed on one case where employment was unilaterally taken without going through the ethics committee's prior employment review. In this case, fines of up to 10 million won may be imposed as determined by the court.
The ethics committee also requested fines to be imposed by the competent court regarding eight cases of arbitrary employment revealed through the National Tax Service's other income data in 2023. Among them, ▲a deputy chief of the Korean National Police Agency to a management advisor at Dawonsys, ▲a level 4 official from the Financial Supervisory Service to a committee member for transaction support at Bithumb Korea, and ▲a researcher from the Rural Development Administration to a researcher at Jeonbuk National University's industry-academic cooperation foundation were later notified of employment possibilities. The others were found to have voluntarily resigned. If any of those who were revealed to have arbitrary employment later receive a 'employment disapproval' or 'employment restriction' decision from the ethics committee, employment release measures will be taken.