[사설] Candidate for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff played golf and traded stocks on the day of North Korea’s provocation

A National Assembly personnel hearing was held yesterday for candidate Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was unexpectedly selected along with a promotion from commander of the Naval Operations Command to captain. Playing golf on a day when North Korea provoked him, stock trading during work hours, and his daughter’s school violence became issues. Candidate Kim has used the military golf course 77 times in the five years since 2018, including on March 5 last year when North Korea fired the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and on May 7 when it launched a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) provocation. I visited Taereung Golf Course even for work. In response to questions from lawmakers, he said, “I used the golf course after the situation was over,” but he was being petty. If there is a security crisis caused by North Korea, it is appropriate to not enter the golf course before or after the situation. Wasn’t that a time when North Korea was constantly threatening us?

Stock trading while working is even more absurd. Candidate Kim traded stocks as many as 52 times during working hours over the past two years. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were traded on January 5 and 17 last year, when North Korea launched provocations with ballistic missiles, including hypersonic missiles. ETFs were also purchased on September 8th of this year, when North Korea unveiled its first tactical nuclear attack submarine, the Kim Gun-ok Hero. It is said that the most common time for him to trade his stocks was between 10 and 11 am. Candidate Kim explained that “stock trading was something I did while working as the Defense Operations Reform Promotion Officer,” which means that if you are not an employee of the operations department, you can trade stocks during working hours.

Candidate Kim’s daughter’s school violence also became controversial. In April 2012, when his daughter was in her second year of middle school, she and five of her classmates assaulted one of her classmates in a school bathroom. At the time, Candidate Kim’s daughter received ‘Disposition No. 1’ (a written apology to the victim), the lowest level of disciplinary action. Candidate Kim said, “At the time, he was unable to properly look after his children due to frequent maritime activities while performing his duties as a captain. He said, “I deeply apologize to the students and parents involved.” The problem is that the Ministry of Justice failed to identify the school violence issue during the verification process. This is evidence that there is a hole in the personnel verification system.

President Seok-Yeol Yoon has been emphasizing change, communication, and innovation every day since his defeat in the Gangseo-gu mayor election in Seoul. If personnel are not appointed to support this, he will not be able to properly run state affairs. Moreover, isn’t poor personnel management the biggest cause of low approval ratings? It can’t go on like this. We must establish public service discipline and strengthen the personnel verification system. The starting point should be to strictly examine whether candidate Kim meets the public’s expectations.

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