'Parachute Controversy' Hwang Hyun-seon, 청 Administrative Officer at Growth Finance, Voluntarily Resigns

Controversy Over Appointment of Regime Officials Without Investment Experience
Temporary General Meeting Canceled... Recommendation Agenda Also Excluded

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] Hwang Hyun-seon, former Blue House administrative officer, has decided to voluntarily step down from the candidate position for Head of Investment Management Division at Korea Growth Investment Corporation. This decision is interpreted as a response to the intensified controversy over parachute appointments, following revelations that CEO Seong Ki-hong personally recommended a political appointee with no investment experience.

Korea Growth Investment Corporation canceled the extraordinary general meeting that was to appoint former administrative officer Hwang as Head of the Investment Management Division. Additionally, the agenda item for 'Recommendation of Inside Director' was excluded from the next general meeting. This is because Hwang decided to resign voluntarily. With the disappearance of the recommended inside director candidate, the agenda was also discarded.

On the 1st of this month, Korea Growth Investment Corporation announced through a shareholder letter that it would propose the appointment of former administrative officer Hwang as Head of Investment Management Division 2, sparking the so-called parachute appointment controversy. Through an organizational restructuring in August, Growth Investment split the Investment Management Division into Division 1 and Division 2, thereby increasing the number of division head positions.

Korea Growth Investment Corporation is a specialized management institution established in 2016 to supply venture capital to startup and innovative companies. Recently, it has been making investment decisions by raising policy capital such as the Korean New Deal Fund. As of the end of July, the scale of assets under management across 19 funds was 6.4 trillion KRW, expected to grow to 20 trillion KRW by 2025.

The appointment of a former politician with no investment or management experience to the position of Head of Investment Management Division, responsible for managing a massive scale of policy funds, sparked controversy over parachute appointments. Former administrative officer Hwang is a former aide to National Assembly member Lee Kwang-cheol, served as Deputy Director of the Democratic United Party’s Organization Bureau, an administrative officer at the Presidential Office of Civil Affairs, and most recently served as Standing Auditor at United Asset Management Corporation (UAMCO).

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