Of 180 post-employment review cases over the past three years (July 2022–July 2025) at five ministries — the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the Ministry of Environment — 161 (89.4%) were approved for employment. Retired public officials used the approvals to move into private corporations, public institutions, associations and cooperatives, and law, accounting, and tax firms.
The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) held a news conference on the 16th and released a "survey on the revolving-door problem at five government ministries" with these findings.
According to the CCEJ, the reemployment approval rate was highest at the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) at 96.2%. It was followed by ▲ the Ministry of Justice at 94.9% ▲ the Ministry of Environment at 89.7% ▲ the Ministry of the Interior and Safety at 85.7% ▲ the Ministry of Education at 82.4%.
Looking only at the 59 cases that received "approval for employment," 53 fell under Article 34, Paragraph 3, Subparagraph 9 of the Enforcement Decree of the Public Service Ethics Act: "cases where expertise is proven and the likelihood of exerting influence after employment is low."
Paragraph 3, Subparagraph 8 — "when, considering the nature, weight, and frequency of tasks handled at the affiliated agency during the five years before retirement and the nature of the duties at the firm one seeks to join, the likelihood of exerting influence after employment is small" — and Subparagraph 1 — "when employment is necessary for reasons of national security, to strengthen the nation's external competitiveness, or for the public interest" — were also main grounds for approval. The CCEJ said, "In the end, reemployment is being allowed on abstract grounds."
The CCEJ also presented evidence that the review process is lax. Some who were reemployed entered newly created organizations after retirement through legal revisions that established those bodies. The Environmental Liability Insurance Business Unit and the Resource Circulation Deposit Management Center are representative examples.
In addition, public officials of the same rank applied for the same institution and position but received different outcomes. One was restricted from employment due to job relevance, while another received approval.
The CCEJ added that patterns repeated of submitting back-to-back applications to multiple corporations, passing down posts such as heads of subsidiary organizations and seats at related associations, and reemployment at subordinate public institutions under ministerial authority.
The CCEJ said, "The negative impact of the revolving-door phenomenon on our society is serious," and noted, "It is necessary to codify a ban on reemployment at newly created bodies and to readjust the size thresholds for institutions subject to employment reviews."