"Kim Seung-won Proposes Amendment to Public Officials Ethics Act to Stop LH Revolving Door Personnel Favoritism"

Kim Seung-won "Public Sector Illegal and Evasive Acts Must Be Thoroughly Prevented"

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Kim Seung-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, has proposed a partial amendment to the Public Officials Ethics Act to prevent the so-called "revolving door personnel favoritism" practice, where retired officials get hired by affiliated companies and secure large-scale contracts for goods and construction from public enterprises.

According to Rep. Kim on the 12th, the current number of executives at grade 2 or higher in 36 public enterprises amounts to 8,256. The proposed amendment aims to strengthen employment restriction regulations by expanding the scope to include employees at grade 2 or above.

The current Public Officials Ethics Act prohibits heads, deputy heads, standing directors, and standing auditors of public enterprises designated under the Act on the Management of Public Institutions from being employed by restricted institutions for three years after retirement. Recently, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) was embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that senior officials at grades 1 and 2 secured contracts worth hundreds of billions of won through revolving door corruption and favoritism in awarding work.

In particular, former LH division heads and department heads involved in the recent issue are not subject to employment restrictions under current laws. Therefore, Rep. Kim Seung-won has proposed a bill to strengthen employment restrictions to prevent the "revolving door personnel" favoritism in awarding contracts in advance.

Rep. Kim stated, "There have been successive incidents in the public sector where laws were violated or loopholes exploited to gain unfair benefits, causing great anger and frustration among the public," adding, "We will thoroughly prevent illegal and deviant acts in the public sector to restore public trust."

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