Even Last-Place Candidates Tapped to Head Agencies... "Parachute Appointments" Controversy at Climate Ministry-Affiliated Institutions

Controversy over parachute appointments has emerged after a gap was found between evaluation results and final appointments for heads of public institutions under the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment. One candidate who ranked last in both the document screening and interview was appointed president, while another appointee was chosen over a candidate who ranked first in both rounds.

According to political circles and other sources on October 10, Na Kyung-won, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, recently released evaluation records for appointments to the Korea District Heating Corporation and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee. The records show that Ha Dong-geun, president of the Korea District Heating Corporation, ranked eighth out of eight applicants in the document screening and fifth out of five candidates in the interview. He also failed to receive the highest grade in the “knowledge and experience in the relevant field” category. Nam Gwang-woo, president of the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, ranked third in the document screening and second in the interview. One applicant ranked first in both rounds, but the final appointment went to Nam.

A parliamentary audit of the Korea Meteorological Administration and related agencies is underway at the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee on the 8th. Yonhap News

The controversy has also drawn attention to the two presidents’ past activities in the Seongnam area. Ha served as founding chair of the Seongnam Environmental Movement Coalition, among other roles, and is known to have participated in civic activism alongside President Lee when Lee was practicing law in Seongnam. It was also noted that Ha officiated at the wedding of Kim Hyun-ji, the president’s first deputy secretary.

Nam also has a history of civic activities in Seongnam. He served as secretary-general of the Seongnam Citizens’ Association, which was launched in 1995. Kim joined the organization as a staff secretary in 1998, and President Lee became its executive committee chair the following year. Citing the evaluation rankings, appointment results, and the candidates’ past activities, Na raised suspicions of appointments involving what she called the “Seongnam network.”

Both institutions listed expertise and experience in relevant fields as requirements when they opened the positions to applicants. The Korea District Heating Corporation operates in district energy, power, and renewable energy, while the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute is responsible for environmental technology research and development, promoting the environmental industry, and environmental health-related projects. Given the institutions’ core responsibilities, some have argued that expertise should be a key criterion in selecting their heads.

However, the published evaluation rankings do not directly determine the final appointment. The president of the Korea District Heating Corporation is appointed by the president after being recommended by the Executive Recommendation Committee, reviewed and approved by the Public Institutions Management Committee, approved by a shareholders’ meeting, and nominated by the minister of climate and energy. The president of the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute is appointed by the minister of climate and energy after the Executive Recommendation Committee recommends multiple candidates.

At the parliamentary audit, Minister of Climate and Energy Kim Seong-hwan answered “No” when asked whether he had faced pressure from the Blue House or the Presidential Office over the appointment of the president of the Korea District Heating Corporation.

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