Han Dong-hoon, who is running for the general election, is burdened by the theory of poor personnel verification in the HR Information Management Unit.

[Business Post] Controversy over the ‘personnel disaster’ has erupted again over Kim Myung-soo, the candidate for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This is because inappropriate behaviors such as his children’s school violence issues, stock investment during working hours, and frequent golfing have been revealed one after another.

Especially, the fact that the issue of school violence by the children of high-ranking officials has not been filtered out repeatedly has reignited the responsibility of the Personnel Information Management Division of the Ministry of Justice, which is in charge of the first personnel verification.
On November 15, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is entering the ‘installation and operation agreement ceremony for the Ministry of Justice-Seoul Metropolitan Government Crime Victim One-Stop Solution Center’ held at the Seoul Women’s Plaza in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. <연합뉴스>Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon said the wrongdoing related to the Personnel Information Management Division is entirely his ‘burden’. If Minister Han runs for the general elections next year as observed by some political circles, the issue of poor personnel verification could be a burden on his future political life.

On the 16th, Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, urged President Yoon Seok-yeol to withdraw the nomination of candidate Kim for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying, “Minister Han Dong-hoon must take responsibility for the poor personnel.”

At the personnel hearing for candidate Kim held the day before, the problem that the Personnel Information Management Division of the Ministry of Justice did not recognize the issue of school violence by candidate Kim’s children in advance was criticized.

Democratic Party members of the National Defense Committee criticized the fact that despite repeated incidents of school violence by the children of public officials since the Yoon Seok-yeol government came in, they failed to filter them out.

In the 18 months since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol government, personnel who have raised issues of child violence include former candidate for the head of the National Investigation Headquarters, Jeong Soon-shin, Chairman of the Broadcasting and Communications Commission, Lee Dong-gwan, former Presidential Secretary Kim Seung-hee, and candidate Kim is the fourth.

Candidate Kim answered that he submitted his self-verification data to the Personnel Information Management Division of the Ministry of Justice as a prospective candidate in June, but there was no item asking about school violence in the questionnaire at that time.

After that, in a phone call with the Personnel Information Management Division in September, he received a question related to school violence, but candidate Kim said that he and his family had never caused a school violence issue.

According to candidate Kim’s explanation, the Personnel Information Management Division only believed the candidate’s statement and skipped the issue of school violence. It is a point where criticism of the poor verification of the Personnel Information Management Division, which cannot even filter out the issue of child violence without the statement of the party concerned, can only grow.

Kim Dong-min, a member of the Democratic Party, who first raised the issue of school violence by candidate Kim’s children, criticized, “It only needs to confirm whether there is a record of primary, middle, and high school violence on paper (by the Personnel Information Management Division), but it didn’t even do that. That’s why it’s a personnel disaster.”

Not only the issue of school violence, but also the problem of candidate Kim’s personnel verification has been revealed. There were holes in the verification in several sensitive issues, such as the fact that candidate Kim traded stocks or played golf during work hours.

It was revealed that candidate Kim had traded stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) dozens of times during work hours over the past two years.

In addition, there was also a suspicion that candidate Kim visited the golf course when North Korea fired intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and other missiles. It was confirmed that he played golf at the Jinhae Golf Course on September 23, 2020, when a search for missing persons was being conducted due to the shooting incident of a public official in the West Sea.

When Song Gap-seok, a member of the Democratic Party, asked candidate Kim if there was a question about trading stocks during work hours in the personnel verification process, candidate Kim answered, “There was no question about whether I did it during work hours. I only submitted the status of the transaction.”

Considering the controversy that arose when the scene of Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik trading stocks before the start of the National Assembly’s preliminary committee meeting was captured, it is criticized that it should have been checked necessarily.

It is presumed that there was no verification at all about the fact that candidate Kim played golf on the day North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In relation to this, candidate Kim said, “I remember there was no question about golf.”

Even Yun Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People’s Power, pointed out candidate Kim’s behavior, saying, “Do you regret going to the golf course on the day of stock trading and North Korean missile launch?” and “It is a national demand that even the families of public officials should behave at the level of the people’s eyes.”
Candidate for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Myung-soo is attending a personnel hearing held at the National Assembly on November 15. <연합뉴스>In the end, the opposition party members collectively left the personnel hearing for candidate Kim, saying there was no value to verify, causing a collapse.

In particular, the opposition unanimously raised the responsibility of the Personnel Information Management Division led by Minister Han, saying that there is a problem with the personnel verification system.

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, sniped, “It seems that child violence has become a mandatory specification for personnel in the Yoon Seok-yeol government.” Bae Jin-gyo, the floor leader of the Justice Party, also raised his voice at the emergency countermeasures meeting on the 16th, saying, “The biggest cause of the collapse (of candidate Kim’s personnel hearing) is the thorough failure of the government’s personnel verification system.”

In the political world, there are constant rumors about Minister Han’s run for the general elections next year. The day before, there was an interpretation that the declaration of candidacy is not far away, as the activities of Jin Eun-jung, a lawyer who is the spouse of Minister Han, were reported in the media.

Minister Han has so far shown a lukewarm attitude toward running for the general elections or entering politics, saying he will be faithful to his duties as minister. Regarding the revelation of his spouse’s activities the day before, he drew a line on political interpretation, saying, “It’s just a daily activity of a state council family.”

However, former People’s Power representative Lee Jun-seok said on BBS Radio’s ‘Jeon Young-shin’s Morning Journal’ on the 15th, “I think Minister Han will turn his career toward politics,” predicting that Minister Han will run for the general elections.

If Minister Han decides to run for the general elections, it is considered a task to improve the Personnel Information Management Division to prove his political ability. Considering that personnel failure is consistently mentioned as one of the reasons for the negative evaluation of the Yoon Seok-yeol government in various opinion polls, the repeated poor verification of the Personnel Information Management Division can be a hurdle to the political path of Minister Han, who is responsible.

As the Personnel Information Management Division has already failed in cases such as Lee Gyun-yong, a former candidate for the Supreme Court Chief Justice, who voluntarily resigned after various controversies, and Kim Haeng, a candidate for the Minister of Gender Equality and Family, if the controversy over candidate Kim for the Joint Chiefs of Staff spreads, the responsibility of Minister Han can only grow.

Cho Hae-jin, a member of the People’s Power, said on CPBC Peace Broadcasting’s ‘Kim Hye-young’s News Sympathy’ on October 23, regarding Minister Han, “If he has the intention to run, he needs to show his political capacity not only as the Minister of Justice but also for the remaining period. He looked forward to being recognized for his political ability by the people.

Minister Han is showing an attitude of trying to alleviate the responsibility of the Personnel Information Management Division in relation to the personnel verification of candidate Kim.

Minister Han met with reporters on the 15th at the ‘Installation and Operation Agreement Ceremony for the Ministry of Justice-Seoul Metropolitan Government Crime Victim One-Stop Solution Center’ and said, “The personnel verification we do is data collection based on objective protocols.” in response to a question that the Personnel Information Management Division of the Ministry of Justice failed in the personnel verification of candidate Kim.

Even at the National Assembly’s audit of the Ministry of Justice held in October, Minister Han showed an attitude of trying to pass the responsibility for the failure of personnel verification to the Presidential Office, saying, “The Personnel Information Management Division only collects data and passes it to the Presidential Office, and does not make a decision on approval or disapproval.” Reporter Kim Dae-chul.