By Kang Seung-woo
Kim & Chang, the nation’s largest law firm, is becoming a major source of talent for Cheong Wa Dae.
On Monday, Choi Cheol-hwan, a former Kim & Chang lawyer, was named as the presidential secretary for civil affairs, becoming the ninth lawyer from the firm to work for the presidential office since 1992. Along with the nine secretaries, another two joined the law firm after leaving the presidential office.
Given that the civil affairs office’s duty is to tighten discipline among government officials and monitor personnel appointments, the increasing number of Kim & Chang lawyers in the office is drawing concern that the firm may influence government policy and the appointment of high-ranking officials.
Four presidential secretaries ― for civil affairs, civil services discipline, legal affairs and civil petitions ― are all under the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs.
According to Cheong Wa Dae, a total of 90 presidential secretaries have worked for the office of the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs since the 1992-1997 Kim Young-sam administration.
No presidential secretary for the civil affairs office under Presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Daejung ― from 1992 to 2003 ― had previously worked with the law firm, but in 2004, it began to offer the services of Park Jung-kyu, one of its lawyers, to the civil affairs secretary of the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
After gaining a foothold in Cheong Wa Dae, Kim & Chang then produced three secretaries for the civil affairs office under the Lee Myung-bak administration. Moreover, the Park Geun-hye government has selected five Kim & Chang lawyers for secretary jobs since its inauguration in February 2013.
Amid the increasing number of Kim & Chang lawyers moving to Cheong Wa Dae, the opposition is taking issue with it, saying that the presidential office should stop making biased personnel appointments.
“There has been talk that Kim & Chang is a training school to produce Cheong Wa Dae secretaries,” said lawmaker-elect Lee Yong-joo of the minor opposition People’s Party, Tuesday.
“I wonder if there is a direct channel between Cheong Wa Dae and the law firm. Considering the seriousness of the jobs, the presidential office needs to make impartial appointments.”
However, the presidential office rejected the idea, saying that it has just picked those deemed fit for the job and that there is no preference for the law firm’s lawyers.
Along with the five secretaries for the civil affairs office, the law firm has expanded its presence under the Park administration, producing high-ranking officials, including Constitutional Court President Park Han-chul, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Cho Yoon-sun, a former senior presidential secretary for political affairs and Yoon Chang-bun, a former senior presidential secretary for future strategy, which drew criticism from the opposition. Yun Byung-se and Yoon Chang-bun served as advisers to the law firm.