Park Jiwon: "Overseas Stocks Held by High-Ranking Officials Should Undergo Job-Related Conflict Review"

Main Sponsor of the "Public Service Ethics Act Amendment"
"If a Connection Is Found, Stocks Must Be Sold or Placed in a Blind Trust"

Park Jiwon, Member of the National Assembly.

Park Jiwon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Haenam, Wando, and Jindo in South Jeolla Province, proposed an amendment to the Public Service Ethics Act on April 22. The amendment would require that overseas stocks held by high-ranking public officials also undergo a review for job-related conflicts of interest, and, if a connection is found, the stocks must be sold or placed in a blind trust.

The current Public Service Ethics Act stipulates that if the total value of stocks held by the official and related parties exceeds the amount set by Presidential Decree (30 million won), a review for job-related conflicts of interest is required. If such a conflict is found, the stocks must be sold or placed in a blind trust.

However, this regulation only applies to domestic stocks, and there have been ongoing concerns that it fails to prevent conflicts of interest related to overseas stocks held by public officials. In fact, due to changes in the global economic environment, the number of cases in which overseas companies?including global big tech firms, multinational corporations, and overseas-listed affiliates of Korean companies?are directly or indirectly involved in the work and administrative actions of Korean public officials has been rapidly increasing.

In particular, a significant number of high-ranking public officials are increasing their wealth through overseas stocks, and some officials earn profits solely from overseas stocks. However, reviews for job-related conflicts of interest are not being conducted in these cases.

Park Jiwon emphasized, "Numerous global companies are localized in Korea, and they are directly or indirectly involved in many administrative actions, such as government policy decisions, taxation, lawsuits, and bidding." He added, "The amendment to the Public Service Ethics Act reflects this reality."

Park Jiwon further explained, "The results of the job-related conflict of interest review should, in principle, be made public to enhance effectiveness, as long as it does not infringe on personal privacy." He also stated, "The amendment includes provisions to ensure that the review results can be verified."