Kim Dong-yeon, former minister of economy and finance, broke his silence after leaving his post early last month in light of a whistle-blowing scandal centering around revelations from the ministry's former deputy director.
Shin Jae-min, who worked at the ministry for about three years since 2014 after passing the highly competitive civil service state examination, claimed through a YouTube video that Cheong Wa Dae pressured the ministry to make some dubious policy decisions for political purposes and that the presidential office tried to meddle in the personnel affairs of a private company. Shin alleged that the ministry was forced in late 2017 to manipulate the nation's debt-to-GDP ratio of the previous Park Geun-hye administration by issuing deficit-covering bonds.
The revelations were enough to spark a huge controversy. Adding to the whole drama was Shin's suicide attempt on Jan. 3 after leaving an online message that seemed to hint at his decision to end his life. But he was found by the police with a slight injury on the same day and is currently resting at a hospital.
The suicide attempt prompted the former minister to post a Facebook message, offering his thoughts on the case and some words of solace for Shin, who he called “a young man with potential to do something for the country.” However, there was no clear explanation about Shin's allegations except to say he had never succumbed to “undue outside pressure” in his 34 years of public service.
Shin's allegations cannot be fully trusted as a low-level government official who had been with the ministry for only a few years has very limited access to information and influence over the decision-making process. The ministry denied Shin's allegations and filed a complaint with the prosecution for leaking government secrets. It is necessary to investigate the allegations thoroughly to restore public trust in the Moon administration's policies.