"69 'Moon Government Code Personnel' Secured in Ministry of Land Affiliates" ... Some Also Shouted "Yoon Seok-yeol Prison"

Assemblyman Kim Jeong-jae "National discord causes harm to the people"

Claims have been raised that a large number of 'opposition-coded personnel' are positioned within agencies under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

On the 5th, Kim Jeong-jae, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, stated, "After conducting a full survey of executives at 37 agencies under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, out of a total of 325 people, 69 (21%) are estimated to be opposition-coded personnel."

Among the 69, 28 (40.6%) were candidates in general or local elections, 10 (14.5%) were from the Moon Jae-in administration (including the Blue House), 9 (13.0%) were Democratic Party officials (including aides), 7 (10.1%) were from election camps (including endorsement groups), 3 (4.3%) were from the Roh Moo-hyun administration, 2 (3.0%) were close aides to the late Park Won-soon, former mayor of Seoul, and 10 (14.5%) were from other groups such as the Lawyers for a Democratic Society.

Rep. Kim said, "In particular, many of these personnel were appointed based on their ties to the opposition rather than expertise, making discord inevitable in implementing the new government's national philosophy." He added, "If the administration and agencies do not work in harmony and executives lose their policy roles, the agencies could become mere figureheads, ultimately causing harm to the public."

◆Contributed to Defending Lee Jae-myung’s Drunk Driving and Endorsement Declaration

Among the public institution executives labeled as 'coded personnel,' there have been numerous cases of overt political activities during their tenure.

Park, a non-standing director working at the Korea Land and Safety Management Institute, caused controversy last April during the Seoul mayoral by-election by making a crude remark about the People Power Party candidate's pledges, saying, "They are making all kinds of ridiculous pledges for a one-year mayor."

In August last year, during the Democratic Party presidential primary, he made a statement defending drunk driving by criticizing candidate Jeong Se-gyun’s proposal to disqualify public office opportunities for those with drunk driving criminal records, saying, "You don’t understand the temptation of wanting a glass of soju and the desire to save a few thousand won on a substitute driver." He later resigned from his position as spokesperson for Lee Jae-myung’s campaign.

Lee, a non-standing director at Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) who began his term in May last year, is a member of the Democratic Party Central Committee and contributed to the declaration of support by 371 appraisers for then-candidate Lee Jae-myung in the last presidential election. The press release related to the endorsement, which emphasized "the Daejang-dong project as a model case of recovering development profits," was handled by this non-standing director.

◆Said to President Yoon Suk-yeol, "He Should Be in Prison If It Were the Old Days"

Lee, a non-standing director at the Saemangeum Development Corporation, sparked controversy during the last presidential election by saying about President Yoon Suk-yeol, "If it were the old days, he should be in prison, let alone running for president."

This director served as the standing vice-chairman of the Youth Committee and regional economic special advisor in Lee Jae-myung’s presidential campaign and ran as a Democratic Party preliminary candidate for Jeonju mayor in the June local elections.

Rep. Kim said, "In addition, there are numerous personnel with political orientations opposite to the Yoon administration across many agencies under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport." Notably, 28 executives have a history of running for elections as members of the Democratic Party or other opposition parties.

Kim, president of Incheon International Airport Corporation, ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic Party candidate in the Chungju general election two years ago, and Park, a non-standing director at the same institution, ran as an Open Democratic Party candidate in Gangnam-gap during the 17th general election.

Also, Kim, a non-standing director at LH, served as a Democratic Party member of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly and worked as the Women and Family Secretary at the Presidential Secretariat during the Moon Jae-in administration. Jeong, a non-standing director at Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), was a spokesperson for the Democratic Party’s Gyeongbuk Provincial Party and ran as the Democratic candidate for Yeongcheon-Cheongdo in the 21st general election.

No, president of Korea Expressway Corporation Service, was a proportional representative candidate for the Unified Progressive Party in the 19th general election and ran for party leader of the Justice Party in 2015. He also served as a policy advisor to former Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap during the previous administration.

Kang, CEO of LX Partners, a subsidiary of Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation (LX), is a former Democratic Party member of the Gunsan City Council in Jeonbuk.

Rep. Kim said, "The biggest problem with entrenched coded personnel is that they do not understand the new government’s national philosophy, which can become an obstacle to national governance."

He added, "While political activities within the bounds of the law are an individual’s freedom in a liberal democratic country, it is shameless for executives who caused controversy with political slander during elections to work at public institutions under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. If there are executives who violated laws and internal regulations by engaging in political activities and election campaigns, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should handle them according to regulations."