Candidate Park Sang-woo: "No Preferential Treatment for LH Service Contracts... Committed to Implementing Innovation Plan"

Park Sang-woo, the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, emphasized that there was no preferential treatment for former officials after he retired as president of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and established the company P&T Global. He stated that he did not use his 'former official' status in securing service contracts.

Park Sang-woo, nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is talking with officials at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 20th. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the morning of the 20th, during the confirmation hearing at the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Park responded to a question from Kim Byung-wook of the Democratic Party, who asked, "Isn't it preferential treatment for former officials when a high-ranking public official gets a job at a private company or starts a related business and wins public contracts?"

Park said, "People who have worked in public service or public institutions and retired use their expertise and experience to engage in social activities. It is true that the company I was involved with won an LH service contract, but it went through a fair evaluation via open bidding." He added, "Preferential treatment for former officials implies receiving unfair benefits or conveniences during the bidding process, but there was no such substantive occurrence."

Kim also criticized, "Park could be a typical case of double standards (naeronambul: 'If I do it, it's romance; if others do it, it's an affair'). As a former LH president working as an inside director at P&T Global, which won contracts from LH, this is a typical double standard according to former Minister Won Hee-ryong's declaration to break the LH interest cartel." Earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 12th that companies employing former high-ranking officials of grade 2 or higher would be fundamentally restricted from bidding on LH projects as part of LH reform measures.

Regarding the criticism that the LH reform plan conflicts with the allegations of preferential treatment surrounding him, Park explained, "It would anger the public if someone intervened in their former company to receive special favors or induce unfair outcomes, and it seems that Minister Won's intention was to prevent that."

He continued, "Since the life expectancy is 80 years, whether in the private or public sector, many people need to engage in social activities for the remaining 20 years after retirement. Someone who worked in field A cannot suddenly work in fields B or C. How to harmonize these two aspects is a very important issue," he elaborated.

He added, "I will do my best to implement the measures announced by Minister Won, and will address and supplement any issues discovered during the process."