[비즈한국] During the two years and seven months of President Yoon Suk-yeol's term, the business world has competitively sought to recruit figures from the prosecution. This trend is interpreted as a result of the growing necessity to respond to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and "owner risks," coupled with the fact that many former prosecutors have been appointed to key government positions under the Yoon administration, making the recruitment of former prosecutors active. From special investigation prosecutors who handled corporate and financial crimes to President Yoon's classmates from the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and even former top-ranking prosecutors, these individuals have moved into positions at major conglomerates such as Samsung, Hanwha000880, KT030200, Lotte004990, and POSCO.
In this process, the employment review for retired high-ranking officials did not serve as an obstacle. By the end of last month, prosecution and bureau-level officials were rejected only twice in a total of 65 reviews. Three major power institutions—the National Tax Service, the National Intelligence Service, and the Board of Audit and Inspection—as well as the Presidential Secretariat, were all effectively given a "free pass." Among the four, only one case of employment restriction was identified, and that was within the National Intelligence Service.
63 Out of 65 Former Prosecutors 'Approved': Sequential Appointments at Samsung, Hyundai, KT, Hanwha, and Taekwang
According to an analysis by Bizhankook of the Public Official Ethics Committee's employment review status for retired officials (May 2022 to November of this year), 63 out of 65 former prosecutors within three years of retirement who applied for employment approval under exceptions to the employment restriction rules passed the review. If the scope is expanded to include prosecution investigators and high-ranking general civil servants, 11 out of 112 former prosecution service personnel received non-approval or restriction decisions. This is a pass rate of over 90%. All nine former bureau-level officials from the Ministry of Justice had their employment approved. Including high-ranking officials, there were a total of 31 cases where Ministry of Justice personnel were reviewed for re-employment at institutions subject to review, and 29 of these were granted approval.
Compared to the first half of the Moon Jae-in administration, attempts by former prosecution service personnel to move to employment-restricted organizations like private companies increased by 63%. During the same period after the previous government took office (May 2017 to November 2019), a total of 71 prosecution service personnel applied for re-employment reviews, and 69 passed. However, in terms of the pass rate, the Moon administration (97%) was higher. In the case of the Ministry of Justice, the number of employment reviews was also higher than under the Moon administration (26 cases).
In principle, high-ranking public officials of grade 4 or higher are prohibited from taking jobs for three years after retirement at institutions highly relevant to the duties of their previous department or agency. However, there are ways around this. One can apply for exception rules by arguing whether the position is closely related to their previous official duties. Re-employment must be "permitted" through an employment review.
As prosecutors have been appointed to key government positions—to the point where the first-ever former prosecutor was appointed as the Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service—the interest from private companies has also risen. Conglomerates that led the way in recruiting prosecution service personnel who had just taken off their robes include Samsung, Hyundai, KT, Hanwha, POSCO, and Taekwang.
Samsung SDS appointed former Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il as an outside director in March last year and subsequently hired Kwon Sang-dae, former Policy Planning Director at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who had led the opposition to legislation that completely stripped the prosecution of its investigative powers. In the case of KT, they recruited Kim Hoo-gon, a former Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office who had been an active critic of the prosecution reform, as the head of the compliance committee, and brought on Lee Yong-bok, a former deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office who served as a special prosecutor for the Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil scandal alongside President Yoon, as the head of the legal department. They also recruited a former prosecutor as an outside director for their affiliate, K-Bank. The Hyundai Group also actively recruited former prosecutors through various affiliates such as Hyundai Capital, Hyundai Green Food, Hyundai Elevator, and HD Hyundai Energy Solutions.
The Hanwha Group hired the most former prosecutors within three years of retirement throughout the first half of the Yoon administration, placing them in affiliates such as Hanwha General Insurance, Hanwha Solutions, Hanwha Systems, Hanwha Aerospace, and Hanwha Ocean. The Taekwang Group has been intensively pursuing recruitment since this March, targeting affiliates such as Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance, Tisis, and Taekwang Industrial.
The 'Promotion' Parade at the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration's Presidential Secretariat
The prosecution is not the only place gaining popularity in the recruitment war for high-ranking officials. The practice of "customary courtesy for former officials" remains for those from powerful institutions. The employment review does not seem to have exerted any control.
Retired civil servants from major power institutions and the Presidential Secretariat have effectively been given a free pass. All 52 applicants from the Presidential Secretariat were approved for employment. The number of review applications is also more than three times higher than in the first half of the previous administration (16 cases). High-ranking officials from the National Tax Service (85 cases) and the Board of Audit and Inspection (36 cases) also showed a 100% pass rate. According to data received by Rep. Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party from the Ministry of Personnel Management, retired officials from the National Tax Service and the Board of Audit and Inspection between 2020 and July of this year were judged as eligible for employment without exception. The National Tax Service, which conducts tax audits, and the Board of Audit and Inspection, which has audit power over government agencies, are cited as core power institutions where re-employment reviews are famously ineffective.
The National Police Agency had the highest number of employment reviews (264 cases) among the four major power institutions—the Prosecution, National Intelligence Service, and National Tax Service—but showed the lowest pass rate at 80%, with 212 cases approved. Personnel from the Fair Trade Commission had a 78% pass rate, with 22 out of 28 cases passing.
Criticism persists regarding a system that allows for mass approvals if they meet criteria such as "public interest," despite the principle of employment restriction. The nine criteria for exceptions—including the necessity for national security and strengthening external competitiveness, consistency with public interest, cases where management improvement of the hiring institution is necessary, and cases where professional expertise exists with low potential for exercising influence—are evaluated as ambiguous. Approvals and permissions are generally based on the judgment that there is "no close work relevance," with restrictions only being applied passively in peculiar cases, such as a former Prosecutor General moving to a law firm or a specific law firm "sweeping" prosecution service personnel.
A source in the legal profession noted, "The employment review for high-ranking officials, where it is harder to find someone who is rejected, is nothing new; it also occurred in previous administrations," adding, "However, it appears the demand for former prosecutors to manage legal risks has expanded during this administration, where the influence of the prosecution has become even greater. It is a time when rethinking public official ethics is necessary."