[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

Eighty-six former Korea Fair Trade Commission officials moved to the country's top 10 law firms over the past decade, with some seeing their average monthly pay more than triple after making the switch, data showed Sunday.

Rep. Han Chang-min of the Social Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, obtained the data from the National Health Insurance Service. It showed that 86 former Fair Trade Commission officials joined the top 10 law firms between January 2016 and August this year.

Kim & Chang took in the most, with 21 former officials, followed by Bae, Kim & Lee with 13; Yulchon with 11; Hwawoo with 10; Gwangjang and Sejong with eight each; Jipyong and Daeryuk Aju with five each; Barun with four; and YK with one.

Kim & Chang, Bae Kim & Lee and Hwawoo alone accounted for 44 of the 86 hires — more than half the total.

The move to law firms came with a sharp rise in compensation.

The 21 former Fair Trade Commission officials who joined Kim & Chang saw their average monthly pay rise from 8.25 million won ($6,070) to 30.59 million won — a 3.7-fold increase.

Those who moved to Hwawoo saw their pay rise 3.2 times, from 6.73 million won to 21.54 million won, while Bae Kim & Lee hires went from 6.21 million won to 18.23 million won, a 2.9-fold increase. Across all firms, post-move pay ranged from 1.7 to 3.7 times what the officials had earned at the commission.

The monthly pay figures are based on National Health Insurance Service records used to calculate insurance premiums and may not reflect each individual's total income.

The same top law firms that absorbed former commission officials also handled the bulk of cartel-related litigation against the Fair Trade Commission.

Of the 263 cartel-related lawsuits filed against the commission between January 2021 and July 10 this year, the top 10 law firms handled 191 cases — 72.6 percent of the total — after excluding overlapping representation.

Kim & Chang led with 32 cases, followed by Hwawoo with 30, Bae Kim & Lee with 29, Sejong with 25, Gwangjang and Barun with 18 each, Yulchon with 16, Jipyong with 14, and Daeryuk Aju and YK with seven each.

A simple tally of cases by firm adds up to 196, but five cases handled by two or more firms simultaneously bring the actual number of distinct cases to 191.

Under the current Public Service Ethics Act, former officials subject to post-retirement employment screening face restrictions on re-employment and the scope of work they may perform.

The restrictions can apply when there is a close connection between the work of the agency or department where the official served during the five years before retirement and the prospective employer. Former officials are also barred from handling matters they directly dealt with while in office.

The law further prohibits former officials from making improper requests or acting as intermediaries with current agency staff in ways that could compromise fair performance of duties, including violations of law or abuse of authority.

Han raised the possibility that former commission officials could leverage their case-handling experience, institutional knowledge and personal networks at the agency to benefit law firms advising corporate clients.

"The movement of former Fair Trade Commission officials to law firms can create conflicts of interest," Han said. "I will examine at the national audit how employment screening and work restrictions for former officials are actually being enforced, and how the commission is handling cartel litigation."


rainbow@heraldcorp.com