FSS Employees’ Preferential Promotions Could Suffer Setback

It was confirmed that the Public Official Ethics Committee (POEC) is conducting an investigation in order to find out how many former employees from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) are working at institutes that are to be audited.

In particular, the result of the POEC is drawing attention as some director-level officials of the FSS prepare to move to security corporations s auditors.

On May 13, the FSS said that two POEC employees staying at the FSS in Yeouido have investigated, beginning this week, the moving status of FSS employees at these institutes to be audited as well as whether or not their work is related to the institute.

An official of the FSS said, “It’s the first time that the POEC staff are directly investigating us,” and, “Our staffs are closely watching the investigation as advancing to a financial company depends on the result.”

The reason why the FSS staffs are worried about the result is because when they move to a bank, security company, or an insurance company, they could have a wider range of limited posts.

The existing Public Official Ethics Law does not allow public officials or the staffs of state-run companies or organizations to work at a private company for two years, whose work is connected with theirs in which they worked for three years before they retire.

Most FSS departments fall into this provision.

The Investigation Department, Disclosure Supervision Department, and International Affairs Department have not been subjected to limited employment as they were viewed to have little relation to a financial company.

Regarding the movement by the employees of these departments to a financial company, the National Assembly and civic groups have raised an issue.

The FSS is making efforts to inform the POEC that the work of these departments have nothing to do with a financial company directly.

Since the establishment of the FSS in 1999, approximately 70 employees have moved to a financial company either as a director or an auditor. Last year, 14 out of 25 retirees have moved to an inspected institute. Also, the three former directors of the Investigation Department were arranged to be supervisors at a security company.

Regarding the above matter, an official of the FSS noted, “In most cases, a financial company hires the FSS staff,” and added, “I’m worried about the situation in which a superior employee avoids working at the FSS, once it‘s not allowed to advance to a financial company.”

Ki-Jeong Ko koh@donga.com