Public institution designation, relocation pressure weighing on staff
Chief also calls for easing post-retirement job screening rules for junior employees
Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin reaffirmed Monday that any decision on relocating the FSS out of Seoul must account for the agency's need to remain close to the financial industry it supervises.
Speaking at a National Assembly audit by the Political Affairs Committee on Monday, Lee was asked by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop about a survey showing 85.6 percent of FSS employees would consider leaving if the agency were relocated. "We are waiting for the government's judgment," Lee said. "I would expect that the need for the FSS to be on the ground will be actively considered in that policy decision."
Lee had already signaled skepticism about relocation at a press briefing in June. "From an ordinary citizen's perspective, it seems strange," he said at the time. "The question of where a construction site supervisor would go — that concern still holds."
At the same audit session, Lee said the prospect of the FSS being designated a public institution was compounding staff anxiety alongside the relocation issue. "The two pressures — being brought under the public institution framework and the relocation — are working together to weigh on employees," he said.
Lee also raised concerns that the scope of post-retirement job screening requirements was too broad.
"The FSS is a private-sector organization, but under the Public Service Ethics Act, employees at Grade 4 and above are subject to post-retirement employment screening," he said. "In civil service terms, that is equivalent to Grade 5 or 6 — and applying the rules to all 800-plus people in that bracket creates complicated problems."
He said the time had come to ease restrictions tied to freedom of occupational choice, while pledging to strengthen internal controls. "We are preparing internally to firmly block contact with interested parties, and we will do our utmost to remove any related misunderstandings or concerns," he said.
Lee noted by comparison that the Bank of Korea applies post-retirement screening only to Grade 2 and above.
Lee also addressed other key issues at the audit, including cybersecurity threats to the financial sector and household loan management. On security, he put forward the principle of "AI-based defense against AI-based attacks." On the legal basis for capping household loan volumes, he said, "There does not appear to be a direct regulatory provision."
rim@heraldcorp.com
