Officials at law enforcement and supervisory agencies are supposed to arm themselves with higher levels of morality because of the characteristics of their professions. But things are not always as they should be.
People could not hide their astonishment in early February when it was revealed that an employee of KT ENS, a network operating subsidiary of KT Corp., the nation's second-largest mobile carrier, embezzled nearly 300 billion won in loans using forged documents in collusion with eight of its subcontractors.
The massive loan fraud case came as a surprise as employees at the 16 major commercial and savings banks were not aware of the 1.8 trillion won loan scam for more than five years. Furthermore, it has been found that KT ENS' enforcement of security measures was so lax that the company's legal seal used on loan applications was left lying on a desk carelessly and freely used, even by part-time workers. Also, the bank staffers processed the loans without checking the authenticity of the fabricated documents.
But earlier this week, people were dumbfounded to find out that a midlevel official at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), whose main duty was to oversee irregularities in the capital market, had been implicated in the incident through police investigation.
The official, surnamed Kim, helped one of the main suspects flee overseas by tipping him off days before the police launched their probe. Kim allegedly took overseas trips several times to play golf and gamble with the suspects, and received property worth billions of won from one of them as bribe. He was suspended from work after his wrongdoing was discovered, and is now being investigated by police.
Kim's case has rendered the FSS, the top financial regulator, speechless, given that the one who should prevent crime and wrongdoing helped criminals. But it's no wonder, considering that FSS officials have been implicated in bribery and other irregularities almost every year.
We remember that eight FSS officials were indicted in 2011 for receiving bribes from insolvent savings banks. Last year, another official was sentenced to a prison term. All this shows that wrongdoing taking place in the regulatory body is no longer an aberration.
The FSS had revealed measures to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents and to strengthen its internal control, but those ended up being nothing more than empty talk. Now it's time to overhaul our entire financial regulatory system across the board and hold those in charge accountable.
People could not hide their astonishment in early February when it was revealed that an employee of KT ENS, a network operating subsidiary of KT Corp., the nation's second-largest mobile carrier, embezzled nearly 300 billion won in loans using forged documents in collusion with eight of its subcontractors.
The massive loan fraud case came as a surprise as employees at the 16 major commercial and savings banks were not aware of the 1.8 trillion won loan scam for more than five years. Furthermore, it has been found that KT ENS' enforcement of security measures was so lax that the company's legal seal used on loan applications was left lying on a desk carelessly and freely used, even by part-time workers. Also, the bank staffers processed the loans without checking the authenticity of the fabricated documents.
But earlier this week, people were dumbfounded to find out that a midlevel official at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), whose main duty was to oversee irregularities in the capital market, had been implicated in the incident through police investigation.
The official, surnamed Kim, helped one of the main suspects flee overseas by tipping him off days before the police launched their probe. Kim allegedly took overseas trips several times to play golf and gamble with the suspects, and received property worth billions of won from one of them as bribe. He was suspended from work after his wrongdoing was discovered, and is now being investigated by police.
Kim's case has rendered the FSS, the top financial regulator, speechless, given that the one who should prevent crime and wrongdoing helped criminals. But it's no wonder, considering that FSS officials have been implicated in bribery and other irregularities almost every year.
We remember that eight FSS officials were indicted in 2011 for receiving bribes from insolvent savings banks. Last year, another official was sentenced to a prison term. All this shows that wrongdoing taking place in the regulatory body is no longer an aberration.
The FSS had revealed measures to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents and to strengthen its internal control, but those ended up being nothing more than empty talk. Now it's time to overhaul our entire financial regulatory system across the board and hold those in charge accountable.
