Monthly Salary Soars 3.7 Times from 8.25 Million Won to 30.59 Million Won... 86 Fair Trade Commission Retirees Join Law Firms Over 10 Years

21 Joined Kim & Chang, the Most Among Firms
13 Moved to Bae, Kim & Lee, 10 to HwaWoo
Some Saw Average Monthly Salary Jump from 8.25 Million Won to 30.59 Million Won

A total of 86 former employees of the Fair Trade Commission have moved to the top 10 law firms, including Kim & Chang, Bae, Kim & Lee (Taepyungyang), and Shin & Kim (Sejong), over the past decade.

According to data from the National Health Insurance Service received by Assemblyman Han Changmin of the Social Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, on September 27, it was found that from January 2016 to August this year, 86 people from the Fair Trade Commission joined the top 10 law firms. Among them, the highest number, 21 people, moved to Kim & Chang. In total, 44 individuals moved to the three law firms Kim & Chang (21), Hwawoo (10), and Bae, Kim & Lee (13). The others included Yulchon (11), Lee & Ko (8), Shin & Kim (8), Jipyung (5), DR & AJU (5), Barun (4), and YK Law (1).

Fair Trade Commission Sejong Government Complex

The monthly average salary received after moving was between 1.7 and 3.7 times higher than before. The 21 former Fair Trade Commission officials who joined Kim & Chang saw their average monthly pay soar from 8.25 million won before the move to 30.59 million won after—a 3.7-fold increase. Those who joined Hwawoo saw their pay rise from an average of 6.73 million won to 21.54 million won, a 3.2-fold increase. For Bae, Kim & Lee, the average monthly pay rose from 6.21 million won to 18.23 million won, making it 2.9 times higher.

The reason why former Fair Trade Commission officials receive high salaries at major law firms is that they have the experience and connections needed to handle major cases involving fines that can reach several hundred billion won. In fact, between January 2021 and July 10 of this year, there were 263 collusion-related lawsuits filed with the Fair Trade Commission. Of these, the top 10 law firms handled 191 cases, representing 72.6% of all such lawsuits. Kim & Chang handled the most with 32 cases, followed by Hwawoo (30), Bae, Kim & Lee (29), and Shin & Kim (25).

Under the current Public Officials Ethics Act, retired officials are prohibited from handling cases they dealt with directly during their service or from making illicit solicitations and recommendations to their former agencies. However, after three years post-retirement, they can be employed by major law firms or corporations.

Assemblyman Han pointed out that the reemployment of former Fair Trade Commission officials at law firms could be used by companies to respond to investigations and sanctions, as these individuals have accumulated expertise in case management, insider knowledge, and personal relationships during their tenure. Therefore, he argued that stricter monitoring is necessary, as former officials can leverage their experience and connections in handling Fair Trade Commission cases for corporate responses to sanctions.

Assemblyman Han stressed, "The move by former Fair Trade Commission officials to law firms could cause conflict of interest issues," adding, "We will examine at the parliamentary audit how closely the employment screening and case-handling restrictions for retirees are actually being implemented, and how the Fair Trade Commission is responding to collusion lawsuits."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.