hankyoreh

Every administration has had its share of parachute appointments, but never like this. This level of undisguised appointments of those who have shown loyalty to President Lee Myung-bak is simply unprecedented. There no longer seems to be concern for appearances or criticism. It resembles nothing more than a pack of hyenas that sees its prey and races over to gobble it up. And it is especially dispiriting to see such brazen nest-feathering at a time when the nation is in an uproar over the North Korean artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island. This, then, is a detailed picture of the scene of cushy parachute positions enjoyed by Lee administration figures, and in particular Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) associates of the president.
On Wednesday, Korea Telecom (KT) announced that former Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye had joined them as managing director.
KT said, “Kim will be responsible for setting the group’s content strategy direction and formulating plans for optimizing related projects and generating synergy.”
Kim, who in her late thirties, has a career history consisting entirely of her service as an MBC journalist and anchor and as mouthpiece for the Cheong Wa Dae. Who would believe that someone with such a background is capable of properly fulfilling the functions of an executive in charge of content strategy for a gigantic communications company with 24 trillion Won ($20.9 billion) in assets and yearly sales of 16 trillion Won in 2009? This is nothing more or less than the provision of a cushy executive chair for a retired associate of President Lee.
Even more troubling is the fact that this is not a singular incident, but part of a larger trend of retired Cheong Wa Dae staff steadily streaming into executive positions with KT. Rumors have circulated around the company that twenty executives at the executive director level and higher are to be dismissed to make room for other Cheong Wa Dae figures in addition Kim.
The company is turning into an organization for the reemployment of retirees from the Cheong Wa Dae. One may argue that a company with some 30 thousand employees and 100 executives has room to admit a few more presidential associates. In South Korea, rising up through the executive ranks at a major corporation is about as difficult as becoming a general in the military. The fact that someone can easily access such a position simply due to his or her status of having been close to President Lee shows that we are a long way off from the “fair society” the Lee administration keeps talking about.
KT is an entirely private company, having been completely privatized in 2002. Its stockholders are 46 percent foreign and 36 percent Korean. The government does not own even a one percent share.
It is unacceptable that a private company like this is still viewed as an auxiliary organization of the Lee administration and used for accommodating presidential associates. Likewise, KT CEO Lee Suk-chae cannot avoid bearing responsibility for allowing this globalized company to devolve into an assemblage of Cheong Wa Dae retirees. We look forward to an immediate end to this practice.
　　
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