A Total of 145 Ruling Party Figures Were Rehired Thanks to High-handed Personnel Administration

It has been revealed that since President Roh Moo-hyun took office, 61 politicians and 84 public servants have been rehired in affiliated organizations of the government.

In particular, all 61 politicians are from the Presidential Election Management Committee, the Committee for Undertaking Presidency, and the ruling Uri Party. A total of 27 were appointed last year, and 24 were appointed this year.

This fact was revealed after Dong-A Ilbo examined personnel materials related to high-ranking officers and executive members of 140 organizations including public corporations, affiliated companies, research institutes, and associations, which are related to 20 governmental departments, from January 2003 to November 2004.

This is the first revelation of the Roh government’s practice of high-handed personnel administration.

After obtaining personnel materials from Rep. Nam Kyung-pil and Rep. Park Kye-dong of the opposition Grand National Party, Dong-A Ilbo examined them for one month and revealed that 31 out of a total of 61 politicians were lawmakers of the ruling Uri Party or the New Millennium Democratic Party before the ruling Uri Party detached from it, and members of other government committees including the Committee for Political Reform. A total of 13, in addition, were aides of President Roh, and 11 worked in Cheong Wa Dae. Five were involved with the Committee for Undertaking Presidency and one was a civic group member. This outcome proved that only figures of the ruling party and current governments are beneficiary of such high-handed personnel administration.

Among the 61 politicians, 21, or 34.4 percent, were chief executive members of public corporations such as president or chief director, and nine have high-ranking positions such as vice-president, vice-chairman, and executive director. A total of 31 were hired as inspectors of the organizations.

Out of 84 public servants, 23 have the highest position such as presidents, chief directors, and chairmen, 10 are serving as inspectors, and the rest are now serving in high-ranking positions such as vice-president or executive member.

We confirmed the annual salary of 90 out of 145: the highest is 210.2 million won, the lowest is 50.29 million won, and the average amount is 86.54 million won. Among them, 61 are paid 19.29 million won on average to cover their extra expenses, and the highest amount is as much as 120 million won per year.

Organizations related to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy have hired the highest number of politicians and public servants: 24. Those related to the Ministry of Construction and Transportation have hired 21, those related to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries have hired 19, those related to the Ministry of Government Administration and Home affairs have hired 18, those related to the Ministry of Environment have hired 11, those related to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism have hired nine, and those related to the Korean National Railroad have hired nine.

Myoung-Gun Lee gun43@donga.com