Personnel vetting committee members announce 'unqualified' verdict
Seven members of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Provincial Assembly's special committee for the confirmation hearing of the Gangwon Credit Guarantee Foundation president — lawmakers Kim Ki-cheol, Park Ki-young, Choi Jae-min, Seo Young-il, Lee Jong-seok, Jeong Yeon-cheol and Han Jong-mun — said Monday that candidate Kim Yong-cheol lacks the expertise and operational capacity required of the foundation's president, and declared him "unqualified."
In a written opinion addressed to provincial residents, the lawmakers outlined the president's responsibilities. The Gangwon Credit Guarantee Foundation is a specialized institution that serves as a safety net for the regional economy by providing credit guarantees to small businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs in the province, they said. Particularly amid a prolonged economic downturn, high interest rates and elevated inflation, the foundation's president must oversee specialized areas including guarantee operations, fiscal soundness management, handling of guarantee defaults and subrogation payments, cooperation with financial institutions, and support policy for small business owners, they added. The lawmakers then said Kim's main career has been concentrated in political affairs and public relations — as a secretary and senior aide in a National Assembly member's office, and as political secretary, spokesperson and external affairs officer for Gangwon Province.
The lawmakers added that when nominating a candidate to lead an institution requiring specialized expertise such as the Gangwon Credit Guarantee Foundation, the primary consideration must be whether the candidate has expertise and capabilities directly relevant to the institution's work. Since no such qualifications could be confirmed in Kim's case, they said they could not recognize his fitness to serve as foundation president.
The committee members also cited Kim's failure to present concrete, actionable plans in his submitted documents on the foundation's core issues — including measures to expand guarantee supply for small business owners in the province, management strategies for rising guarantee defaults and subrogation payments, plans to increase the foundation's core assets, strategies to expand cooperative guarantee agreements with financial institutions, special guarantee policies for vulnerable groups and micro-businesses, and the foundation's medium- to long-term management strategy. His inability to demonstrate sufficient understanding of and capability on these key matters was listed as an additional ground for the unqualified finding.
The lawmakers also raised concerns about Kim's role during the tenure of former Governor Choi Moon-soon. Kim held several key positions in the provincial administration during that period — including political secretary, spokesperson and external affairs officer — while the administration pursued projects with significant consequences for provincial assets and finances, including the Legoland project and the sale of Alpensia Resort, both of which continue to weigh on Gangwon Province today. Questions were raised about what role Kim played in political affairs and external cooperation at the time, and to what extent he was briefed on and involved in major policy decisions, the lawmakers said. Because Kim had not provided sufficient explanation or clarification on these matters, they said they could not recognize his fitness to serve as foundation president.
The lawmakers recalled that the president of the Gangwon Credit Guarantee Foundation holds a position of great responsibility, overseeing a public institution directly tied to the survival of countless small businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs in the province. They urged Gangwon Province Governor Woo Sang-ho to withdraw Kim's nomination as soon as possible and name a new candidate whose expertise and capabilities have been verified.
abc@heraldcorp.com
