Kim Ki-sik



By Kim Rahn



Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) head Kim Ki-sik resigned Monday after the National Election Commission (NEC) concluded that his overseas business trips and donations during his days as a lawmaker were illegal.



The resignation followed President Moon Jae-in's earlier pledge that he would have Kim step down if any illegalities were found because he would be unfit to lead the financial watchdog. Moon will accept the resignation, a Cheong Wa Dae official said.



With the NEC's finding of illegalities and Kim's resignation, the opposition parties are likely to intensify their offensive on the personnel selection and screening system at the presidential office.



The NEC's conclusion came after Cheong Wa Dae requested it last week to review whether Kim's activities were illegal as the controversy grew.



During his lawmaker days from 2012 to 2016, he went on overseas business trips sponsored by financial organizations subject to oversight by a National Assembly committee that he was a member of. When his term as a lawmaker was nearing an end, Kim also used his remaining political funds to donate 50 million won to the Korea Institute for the Future, which he headed.



As to the trips, the NEC said that although such sponsored trips may have been "customary" among lawmakers as Kim claims, some part of such sponsorship can be regarded as receiving illegal political funds, and lawmakers are advised to refrain from such trips in the future.



But what mattered more was the donation to the institute, according to the NEC. "If a lawmaker belongs to a civic group or an institute and pays a regular membership fee, it is not in violation of the Election Law on Public Officials. But it is in violation if the person provides money, which is much larger than usual, to the organization in the name of a special membership fee," the commission said in a press release.



The opposition parties demanded Moon apologize over the controversy, as Cheong Wa Dae has claimed Kim's past wrongdoings were not serious enough to dismiss him. They also urged senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk, who was in charge of screening Kim, to step down, taking responsibility for his misjudgment.

