The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (Kyeongsillyeon) argued that there are suspicions that Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong and First Vice Minister Ki-il Lee did not properly fulfill their duties in stock blind trust for high-ranking officials.
On the 26th, the Gyeongshilyeon held a press conference on the ‘Announcement of the Implementation of the Stock Blind Trust by Ministers and Vice Ministers Yoon Seok-yeol’ and announced the stock sales of 16 ministers and vice ministers who reported stock holdings of 30 million won or more and the actual status of fulfillment of the blind trust obligations.
The stock blank trust system, introduced by the Roh Moo-hyun administration in 2005, is a system in which high-ranking public officials with stocks worth over 30 million won sell or trust stocks. If it is judged that there is no job relevance, the duty to report the sale or trust can be waived.
Whether or not it is related to work is reviewed by the Stock Blind Trust Review Committee, and if it is judged that it is related to work, the stock must be sold or put into trust within two months.
Accordingly, through the Official Gazette posted from January 1, 2022 to January 26, 2023, the Council of Ministers and Vice Ministers confirmed whether the stock sales and blank trust obligations were fulfilled.
As a result, there were 5 ministers and vice ministers who held stocks worth 30 million won or more even following stock sales or blank trusts, and 7 public officials who held stocks worth 30 million won or more but did not report any details.
In the case of Minister Cho, the sale of stocks worth 65.45 million won and the sale and trust report fulfillment rate for the amount subject to blank trust, 35.45 million won, was 0%.
Of the 103.7 million won in stock holdings, Vice Minister Lee sold or reported for trust last August only 9,493,000 won, or 13% of the 7,370 won, the amount subject to sale or trust.
In addition, ministers and vice ministers who hold stocks worth more than 30 million won even following stock sales and blank trusts are Vice Minister Kwon Ki-seop of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (760 million won), Vice Minister Park Woon-gyu of the Ministry of Science and ICT (190 million won), Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min (50 million won), Employment Minister of Labor Lee Jung-sik (40 million won). High-ranking public officials who did not report the sale or blind trust even though they owned stocks worth more than 30 million won were Vice Minister Lee Ki-soon of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (1.82 billion won), Vice Minister Cho Yong-man of the Ministry of Culture and Sports (450 million won), and Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop (160 million won). , Minister of Unification Kwon Young-se (90 million won), and Vice Minister Jang Young-jin of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (50 million won).
The Police Officer’s Office asked the Personnel Innovation Office to see if they had undergone a job relevance review, but they said they were told that they had been kept private in accordance with the Public Service Ethics Act and the Act on Disclosure of Public Institution Information.
“There are high doubts whether the review was properly conducted for ministers and vice ministers who still hold stocks worth more than 30 million won even following reporting stock sales or blank trusts,” said the Federation of Economics and Employment. It needs to be confirmed that there is no such thing, but the Ministry of Personnel Innovation is handling it confidentially, so there is a high level of doubt regarding fairness.”
The Gyeongshilyeon said, “The purpose of the Public Service Ethics Act is to transparently disclose the assets of high-ranking public officials, and even though the details of property and stock blind trust are disclosed accordingly, the failure to disclose job-relevance review information shakes the foundation of the stock blind trust system.” said.
The Coalition for Economics and Employment ▲ sells or trusts stocks without exception when holding more than 30 million won ▲ discloses job-relevant examination details ▲ discloses the disciplinary status of high-ranking public officials who refused stock blank trust ▲ prosecutes the minister or vice minister who refuses stock blank trust or acquires new stock demanded
On the 18th, he filed an administrative judgment once morest the Ministry of Personnel Innovation and the Stock Blind Trust Review Committee for the non-disclosure of job relevance review details.
