'Preventing the Second Yoon Je and Kim Jowon'... Prohibition of Public Officials' Stock Review Involvement in Duties

'Strengthening Conflict of Interest Prevention' Public Officials Ethics Act Promulgation Bill Approved at Cabinet Meeting on the 15th

(From left) Jo Yoon-je, Monetary Policy Committee member of the Bank of Korea, Kim Jo-won, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] When stocks (worth 30 million KRW or more) held by high-ranking public officials and their families undergo a review for job-relatedness, involvement in related duties will be prohibited even before the results are announced. This measure aims to prevent conflicts of interest that may arise during the one to two months it typically takes for the Stock Blind Trust Review Committee to reach a decision.

The Ministry of Personnel Management announced on the 15th that the 'Public Officials Ethics Act' promulgation bill containing this provision was approved at the Cabinet meeting. Previously, job involvement was prohibited only when job-relatedness was recognized and a stock blind trust contract was signed, but from now on, the prohibition will be expanded to apply from the stage of requesting the review. If the regulation is violated, the maximum fine will also be raised from 10 million KRW to 20 million KRW.

A new regulation has been established whereby if the blind-trusted stocks are not disposed of within six months, the relevant Public Officials Ethics Committee will recommend a position change. This is to prevent prolonged conflicts of interest caused by stocks not being sold for an extended period.

Following the approval of this promulgation bill, cases like those of Cho Yoon-je, a member of the Bank of Korea Monetary Policy Committee, and Kim Jo-won, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, who caused controversy by holding large amounts of stocks previously recognized as job-related, are expected to decrease.

Monetary Policy Committee member Cho caused controversy by refusing to sell some stocks he held before his inauguration in May and resisting, but after the review committee recognized job-relatedness, he disposed of them belatedly. Former Senior Secretary Kim also caused controversy by retaining approximately 290 million KRW worth of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) stocks held during his tenure as KAI president when he moved to the Blue House. After the review committee recognized job-relatedness, he too sold all the stocks belatedly.

Hwang Seo-jong, head of the Ministry of Personnel Management, said, "I hope this revision will serve as an opportunity to more thoroughly recognize the obligations regarding stock holdings of high-ranking public officials," and added, "We will continue to take the lead in establishing a public ethics system that can prevent potential conflicts of interest between public and private interests."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.