Hong Ki-taek (61), professor at Chung-Ang University and also an acquaintance of President Park Geun-hye from college, was nominated as the chairman of the Korea Development Bank (KDB) Financial Group on April 4.Another close presidential aide will fill the seat once occupied by the MB-man (former President Lee Myung-bak's man), Kang Man-soo (68), who was at the center of controversy for his close relations with the president.The financial circle expects the president to appoint her aides to spearhead public enterprises beginning with Hong. Experts point out that while the government, which continues to appoint its aides to head public institutions, is causing problems, such practices continue because the organizations actually seek executives with strong ties to the government.On April 7, Hong Ki-taek, nominee for chairman of the KDB Financial Group held an emergency press conference at a restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul and explains his position on the media coverage. Kim Gi-namOn April 8, the Korean Financial Industry Union released a statement urging the Park Geun-hye government to fulfill its promise to stop appointing executives of various organizations. In the statement, they said, "Appointing close aides to head financial and public institutions will return as poison. We urge the Park Geun-hye government to refuse the temptation to appoint close aides as executives in financial and public enterprises and to keep their promise to allow figures with expertise, the most important factor, to fill those seats."The union called for the government to cancel the nomination of Hong as the chairman of the KDB Financial Group and reconsider their options from ground zero. The chairman of a financial group is a typical position for figures with strong ties with the government.These chairmen have been replaced each time a new government entered office. Their lack of expertise has caused side effects, such as unfair support for a specific affiliate, conflicts between the chairmen and bank presidents, and in some cases insolvent subsidiaries.In addition, when close aides head the organization, they can't draw up a long-term development plan for the organization, since they're busy trying to read the mind of the government.One person from the financial industry said, "A typical case is the KB Financial Group. It proved that a leading bank can fall behind competition if the chief executive officer lacks expertise in finance and organizational management." Nevertheless, public financial enterprises openly welcome government-appointed executives.In a recent statement the Korea Exchange union stated, "The new chairman should be a person who has the capacity to realize the new government's philosophy on state affairs and who is an expert on capital market policies, rather than a person from the securities industry."As rumors spread that several presidents of securities companies were being reviewed as candidates for the next chairman, the union publicly demanded the government to appoint a senior public official with "clout" instead of a person from the securities industry.Industry insiders believe this reveals the true intentions of the Korea Exchange, which wants to be cleared from the list of designated public institutions. One person from the finance industry said, "The Korea Development Bank was cleared from the list of public institutions because they had a chairman as powerful as Kang Man-soo under the Lee Myung-bak government. The Korea Exchange wants a powerful figure to lead their organization since only a Kang Man-soo-like figure will enable them to escape being designated as a public institution."Public enterprise employees accept government-appointed executives to be the norm. One person from a securities-related agency, which was headed by a government-appointed figure, said, "We conducted an internal survey before the current president came, and most employees answered that they preferred a former public official to a person from inside the organization."When the nomination of Professor Hong, a colleague of President Park and a member of the Presidential Transition Committee, as the head of the KDB Financial Group was made public, some employees at KDB said they were relieved that a close presidential aide would spearhead their company.Another person from the financial circle said, "We have a long history of government-appointed figures leading financial and public institutions, and it would be difficult to break away from such practices even if we opposed. As these experiences pile up, the trade unions naturally come to accept or partly accept these practices."Jun Sung-in, professor at Hongik University, said, "What worries me about President Park is that she reminds me of state-controlled administration. Government-appointed executives of public enterprises have been a chronic malady passed down in Korean society from the time of President Park Chung-hee." Experts point out that improvements in the system are urgent to break away from the practice of government-appointed executives.Professor Jun said, "Government-appointed executives are wide spread, so public companies try to seek a distorted balance by trying to maximize their internal benefits under the current practice of government-appointed executives rather than continue their fight to end government appointments. We need to introduce a cooling period, which prevents former senior public officials from seeking employment for 3~4 years after retirement, or accept voluntary pledges refusing to seek government-appointed positions from people in the presidential campaign, such as Professor Hong."Kim Sang-jo, professor at Hansung University, said, "If the government stops appointing close aides to head public companies and allow able figures to lead the organization, structural reforms on benefits, once protected under the management of government-appointed figures, will be inevitable. If an end to government-appointed executives is a necessary task, the trade unions of public institutions should step up as a principal actor and in the process, they will also have to give up their vested interests."경향신문 [오늘의 인기뉴스]▶ 박근혜, 北주택화재보험포항꽃집홍보마케팅어린이보험비교운전자보험추천비갱신형암보험고지혈증전립선염퀵서비스요금보험비교사이트개성공단 중단하자…▶ 홍준표에게서 오세훈이 보인다…왜?▶ 北 “미사일 발사한다” 외교관들에게…▶ 日王 손자가 평민초등학교 입학…왜?▶ ‘실책악몽→싹쓸이’ 죽다 산 추신수모바일 경향 [경향 뉴스진 | 경향신문 앱 | 모바일웹] | 공식 SNS 계정 [경향 트위터] [미투데이] [페이스북] [세상과 경향의 소통 Khross]- ⓒ 경향신문(www.khan.co.kr), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지〈경향신문은 한국온라인신문협회(www.kona.or.kr)의 디지털뉴스이용규칙에 따른 저작권을 행사합니다.

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