[News brief] 8 in 10 retired public officials reemployed in senior posts

Almost 80 percent of retired senior government officials were reemployed in other high-ranking positions in the last 4 1/2 years, data from the Ministry of Personnel Management showed.

Of the 1,030 high-ranking retirees who applied for the review of reemployment with the Ministry of Personnel Management for positions in related public and private organizations between 2015 and June this year, 813 were employed, according to data obtained by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Min-ki and presented to the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee on Tuesday.

Former officials at the Prosecutors’ Office topped the list, with 57 landing senior posts in related institutions. This was followed by 41 former senior Defense Ministry officials, 39 from the Justice Ministry and 35 from the Foreign Ministry, who were hired for senior positions in the public and private sectors.

During the same period, 114 officials were caught working without having gone through the review by the ministry’s Public Official Ethics Committee. Ninety-five of the 114 violators were slapped with fines.

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)