[Editorial] Strange job change

Kim Dae-nam, a former administrative official at the presidential office who caused controversy by asking an online media outlet to criticize Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the ruling People Power Party, resigned Monday as standing auditor of Seoul Guarantee Insurance.

He is said to have tendered resignation because he does not want to be a burden on SGI, the party and the government. He was criticized for staying on in the job even after an audio recording of his phone conversation with a liberal YouTube-based news channel was disclosed.

Speaking on the phone on July 10, before the party convention on July 23 to elect its leader, he asked the channel to criticize Han Dong-hoon, who ran for the party leader at that time. After the convention where Han won the election, Kim moved to the auditing job whose salary is about 300 million won ($222,000).

In early August, he talked on the phone with a reporter of the same channel.

“The standing auditor is No. 2 in SGI, but rarely instructed by the chief executive. It’s an easy and high-paying job, which comes with a luxury sedan, a chauffeur and a secretary,” Kim said. “I chose the job directly. The terms of other jobs are two years, while the one I chose is three years. I can stay on the job until the end of this administration.”

The annual salary of the standing auditor at SGI is said to range from 240 million won to 360 million won including base pay and bonuses. A corporate credit card that covers expenses of 4.7 million won a month is also issued.

The remarks came about a month after he had said on the phone with the news channel before the party convention that the first lady had been very stressed because of Han and that she would be pleased "if we plan this (criticism of Han) well and take him down."

The truth about how a presidential staff member came to discuss such a thing with a YouTube channel must be uncovered. Furthermore, the same media was involved in the hidden-cam revelation of the first lady receiving a luxury-brand pouch bag as a gift from a pastor, her acquaintance, who claimed later it was a bribe.

Afterward, the People Power Party embarked on a probe into his controversial remarks on its leader and his change of occupation, though he left the party immediately after the news report on the party’s inspection.

Though the presidential office said the first couple were not acquainted with Kim, there were reportedly some voices in the office to the effect that he must decide to leave the job, as controversies mounted over his remarks and new job.

What is stranger is that a few days after he asked the channel to criticize Han, he was recommended unanimously as the standing auditor by the SGI board despite his lack of necessary knowledge and experience.

Kim got the easy, high-paying job as he said, though he has no related career. This raised suspicions about his move to the new job. It would be desirable for the presidential office to find truth about this job change. Otherwise, suspicions of the first lady being involved may surface.

Former President Moon Jae-in vowed not to reward his loyalists with high-ranking jobs of public enterprises for helping him become president, but toward the end of his presidency, he appointed many supporters as auditors of public institutions.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which claims to champion “fairness and common sense,” has failed to escape from the old practice of appointing politicians on its side to high posts of public enterprises. Former ruling party lawmakers Hong Moon-pyo, Ahn Byung-gil and Ha Tae-keung were appointed as the CEOs of Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade (aT), Korea Ocean Business and head of the Korea Insurance Institute, respectively, after they lost the general election on April 10.

If seats on the boards of public institutions are treated as trophies of the presidency, their organizational competitiveness will weaken. The practice of awarding jobs of public institutions to supporters like booty must be broken.