The civil society organization claims Coupang has recruited numerous former public officials creating a so-called 'former official cartel', alleging negligence by the ethics committee and personnel agency.
The Economic Justice Institute (경실련) has raised claims that Coupang has hired a significant number of ex-public officials, forming what they term a 'former official cartel', with accusations directed towards the Public Officials Ethics Commission and the Ministry of Personnel Management for allegedly overlooking these actions. On this basis, 경실련 has filed a request for a public interest audit, stating that these institutions have failed in their duties to regulate post-retirement employment. Coupang responded, calling the allegations 'discriminatory announcements' and expressed regret over the situation.
On the 11th of the month, 경실련 held a press conference in Jongno-gu, Seoul, revealing details of Coupang's extensive recruitment of former officials across legislative, administrative, and judicial spheres. Their analysis revealed that in the last six years, 16 former aides from the National Assembly and 31 retired government officials have rejoined Coupang. 경실련 contends that the current employment restriction system designed to prevent conflicts of interest has not been properly enforced, enabling these former officials' reemployment at Coupang. They have further claimed that the ethics commission and personnel agency have irresponsibly issued employment approvals and neglected their post-approval investigation duties, leading to their request for an audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection.
According to 경실련, during the past six years, out of 405 cases reviewed for employment of retired officials from the National Assembly, 394 cases (97.28%) were deemed eligible for employment. The remaining 11 cases, initially notified with employment restrictions after the first review, were all approved after subsequent assessments. Similarly, for retired government officials, of 5,226 cases reviewed by the Public Officials Ethics Commission, 4,727 were classified as 'eligible for employment' or 'employment approved', highlighting a troubling trend where 100% of registrations were granted approval, enabling Coupang to recruit 72 individuals from the former official sector across all government areas, including the police and the Fair Trade Commission.
