By Choi Sung-jin
Since the inauguration of the Park Geun-hye administration more than three and a half years ago, 204 people have been appointed to high financial posts "by orders from above," a lawmaker said Thursday.
Between February 2013 and September 2016, 204 former bureaucrats and politicians found new jobs in various financial institutions, said Rep. Kim Hae-young of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, based on the analysis of the executive lists of public financial agencies.
By origin, bureaucrats from powerful agencies, including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Board of Audit and Inspection, represented the largest share of these "parachuted-in" appointments, with 76 officials, followed by financial officials from the Bank of Korea, Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service (68) and politicians from the ruling party and President Park's campaign headquarters (60).
The largest number of these people went to companies affiliated with KB-Kookmin Bank and NH (Nonghyup) Bank, a farming cooperative-turned-bank.
In the case of NH Bank, its board of directors was chaired by a former senior economic secretary to Park and directors included a former prosecutor-general and officials from various government ministries and commissions.
Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO), an agency responsible for managing bad debts of insolvent companies, is filled with 13 parachuted-in officials, including one who helped Park win the candidate nomination, followed by Korea Land and Housing Corp. with 12 cronies.
The rush of parachuted-in appointments briefly slowed to about 30 cases in the wake of the tragic sinking of the ferry Sewol and consequent popular anger about President Park's mismanagement of state affairs, but surged back to 64 this year.
"The political appointment of financial posts is accelerating as the Park administration moves toward the final year of its five-year term," Rep. Kim said. "We can't help but wonder how President Park's slogan of public sector reform is related with the resurgence of these appointments of non-experts."
Kim called on the government to fill the posts with people with expertise and through more transparent and fair procedures to turn the president's slogan into reality.
Since the inauguration of the Park Geun-hye administration more than three and a half years ago, 204 people have been appointed to high financial posts "by orders from above," a lawmaker said Thursday.
Between February 2013 and September 2016, 204 former bureaucrats and politicians found new jobs in various financial institutions, said Rep. Kim Hae-young of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, based on the analysis of the executive lists of public financial agencies.
By origin, bureaucrats from powerful agencies, including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Board of Audit and Inspection, represented the largest share of these "parachuted-in" appointments, with 76 officials, followed by financial officials from the Bank of Korea, Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service (68) and politicians from the ruling party and President Park's campaign headquarters (60).
The largest number of these people went to companies affiliated with KB-Kookmin Bank and NH (Nonghyup) Bank, a farming cooperative-turned-bank.
In the case of NH Bank, its board of directors was chaired by a former senior economic secretary to Park and directors included a former prosecutor-general and officials from various government ministries and commissions.
Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO), an agency responsible for managing bad debts of insolvent companies, is filled with 13 parachuted-in officials, including one who helped Park win the candidate nomination, followed by Korea Land and Housing Corp. with 12 cronies.
The rush of parachuted-in appointments briefly slowed to about 30 cases in the wake of the tragic sinking of the ferry Sewol and consequent popular anger about President Park's mismanagement of state affairs, but surged back to 64 this year.
"The political appointment of financial posts is accelerating as the Park administration moves toward the final year of its five-year term," Rep. Kim said. "We can't help but wonder how President Park's slogan of public sector reform is related with the resurgence of these appointments of non-experts."
Kim called on the government to fill the posts with people with expertise and through more transparent and fair procedures to turn the president's slogan into reality.
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