Do Je-hae edits news stories as part of the AI team.
Ranking officials hit for ethical lapses
Land minister nominee Byeon Chang-heum, right, participates in an event with President Moon Jae-in in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 11. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok
By Do Je-hae
By Do Je-hae
The Moon Jae-in administration is being hit for alleged ethical lapses of high-level officials and nominees for ranking posts.
Criticism is stronger as the Moon government has been claiming to advocate fairness and transparency since its inauguration.
Byeon Chang-heum, former CEO of the Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH) and the nominee for the minister of land, infrastructure and transport, has been hit by the opposition and civic groups for some remarks he made regarding an accident at Guui Station in Seoul in 2016, where a subcontracted worker surnamed Kim, 19, was killed by a subway train while fixing a safety door on a metro platform.
Byeon made the remarks, which were seen to blame the young worker for the accident, while serving as president of the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH). “When looking closely at what happened, the subcontracted employee of Seoul Metro died due to his own mistake,” Byeon was quoted as saying in a meeting at the time, according to the latest media reports. “The incident would not have happened if he had been more attentive.”
Ahead of the National Assembly's confirmation hearing for the ministerial post slated for Wednesday, Byeon apologized for the remarks. “The remarks were to underline the social impact of safety mismanagement. I apologize to the people who have been hurt by the remarks, regardless of my intention. From now on, I will conduct myself with more prudence as a nominee for a government post.”
But the opposition is calling on the President to withdraw the nomination, which is seen as the latest example of Cheong Wa Dae's insufficient screening of the suitability and background of nominees for ranking posts. The opposition says that the nomination goes against the values of ethics and fairness underlined by the Moon administration.
“The remarks show Byeon's discriminatory perception and that he does not really understand or sympathize with the marginalized and common people,” Kim Geun-sik, an official of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) and a professor at Kyungnam University, wrote in a recent Facebook post. “The nomination shows the duality and the naked face of the liberal bloc.”
During Byeon's nomination hearing today, the opposition is expected to grill him about his remarks regarding the Guui Station accident, in addition to a range of other controversies, including his possibly illegal hiring practices while serving as president of LH, an agency affiliated with the land ministry. He allegedly facilitated the hiring of his former students and acquaintances, allegations he has denied.
Another controversial figure is Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu, a former lawyer, who was recently appointed to the post on Dec. 2, just one day after his predecessor quit ahead of a disciplinary panel hearing against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl.
Lee physically attacked a cab driver last month under the influence when the driver was waking him up after arriving in front of his home. But the police closed the case without a proper investigation. The PPP visited the National Police Agency in protest, saying that the police had been lenient on a pro-government figure and this undermines the people's trust in the police force.