"I Will Relinquish My Personnel Authority First": Commissioner Kwanghyun Lim of the National Tax Service Announces Special Promotion for 56 Employees

Lim Gwanghyun, Commissioner of the National Tax Service, visited the Daejeon Regional Tax Office's Tax Arrears Management Team training site on March 24 and talked with officials in charge of confirming the status of tax arrears. Lim, Commissioner’s Facebook page.

On April 16, the National Tax Service carried out its special promotions for the first half of 2026, officially announcing a total of 56 employees as recipients. Unlike general promotions, which are based on performance evaluations, this special promotion recognizes employees with outstanding achievements regardless of their career length or seniority. For the first time in the 60-year history of the agency, regular employees directly participated in the decision-making process for promotions through a blind evaluation system. At an executive meeting, Commissioner Kwanghyun Lim instructed, “Starting with myself, I will boldly relinquish my personnel authority, so conduct promotions solely through an objective and fair system based on performance.”

Kwanghyun Lim, Commissioner of the National Tax Service (second from the left), is sharing snacks and engaging in conversation with employees of the Real Estate Tax Payment Division on April 16. Commissioner Lim's Facebook

Among those promoted, Investigator Hyo Sook Han of the Collection and Legal Affairs Bureau at the Jungbu Regional Office (promoted to Grade 5) tracked down a delinquent taxpayer who had laundered hundreds of billions of won in capital gains and was hiding at the address of his mistress’s son. She then discovered and collected a bearer negotiable certificate of deposit that had been concealed between book pages. Investigator Young Wook Ko of the Third Investigation Bureau at the Jungbu Regional Office (promoted to Grade 5) uncovered cash and a hidden USB drive in an executive’s secret safe during a tax investigation of a pharmaceutical company. He secured decisive evidence of illegal rebates and identified slush funds, leading to the collection of additional corporate taxes. Investigator Soo Ho Jeong of the Collection and Legal Affairs Bureau at the Daegu Regional Office (promoted to Grade 6) did not lose a single case in five years and two months of administrative litigation and four years and eight months of civil litigation. He saved government funds by winning the first-ever lawsuit related to tips on concealed assets.

Commissioner Lim stated on Facebook, “To reflect the philosophy that extraordinary results should be met with exceptional rewards in human resources management, I have decisively broken away from the long-standing seniority-based practices.” He added, “I completely relinquished the personnel authority that had been concentrated in the hands of the Commissioner and entrusted it to a fair system. By introducing blind evaluations in which colleagues directly participate, we have established a transparent selection process that eliminates the potential for subjective interference.” He emphasized, “As a result, outstanding talent on the frontlines—those who protected 100 billion won of state funds and relentlessly uncovered hidden assets tucked inside bookmarks—have been rightfully recognized.” Lim also said, “I will never forget the dedication of those who were not included in this list. I will continue to ensure that those who quietly accumulate results in their roles will have a fair opportunity to be evaluated and rewarded.”

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