[사설] ‘Ministry of Environment Blacklist’ Condemned

The court sentenced former Environment Minister Kim Eun-gyeong, who was charged with the’Ministry of Environment blacklist’ case yesterday, to two years and six months in prison and imprisoned. This is the first time a person who served as a minister in the Moon Jae-in administration has been sentenced to imprisonment for abuse of authority. Shin Mi-sook was also convicted of former Blue House Balance Personnel Secretary. The essence of the first trial ruling on this case, which was regarded as the’first government investigation’ by the prosecution after the inauguration of the government, was’definitive edition of paratroopers who abused authority and interfered with fair recruitment work in collaboration between the Minister of Environment and the Blue House personnel secretary’ Is. In 2017-2019, the two men urged the resignation of 13 executives of public institutions under the Ministry of Environment appointed at the time of the Park Geun-hye administration, and were condemned for unfair intervention in the hiring process so that a nominee appointed by the Blue House and the Ministry of Environment was appointed.

The judge stated that “when the nominee was eliminated, all those who passed the screening were rejected, and they intervened in the entire process of illegal hiring, such as unfairly transferring a public official from the Ministry of Environment, who was a member of the personnel recommendation committee.” It is not difficult to assess the severity of the harm, as it was stated in the ruling that only the victims according to the unlawful instructions of the Ministry of Environment were 13 submitting resignations, 80 personnel recommendation committees, and 130 good applicants.

This case suffered difficulties from the investigation process. Originally, at the end of 2018, former Blue House Special Inspector Kim Tae-woo uncovered suspicions of civilian inspections by the Special Superintendent. At the time, the Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-gyeom denied that “the Moon Jae-in government’s DNA does not have civilian inspections in the first place.” However, as the Ministry of Environment’s blacklist was further exposed, the remarks of “No temple DNA” became colorless. The blacklist document contains the resignation trend of 21 executives from 8 offices under the Ministry of Environment, including the Korea Environment Corporation. It was a trend report to exclude former government-related personnel from public office. The court in charge of the warrant issued an arrest warrant that the District Prosecutor of the East of Seoul claimed as “the crystallization of the hiring corruption that turned public agency executives into spoils or private property,” and the judge in charge of the warrant raised the wrong reasons, such as “the circumstances of Choi Soon-sil’s gang of government administration” and “long term practice” Dismissing it became controversial.

The Ministry of Environment’s blacklist case is different from the cultural and broadcasting blacklists during the Park Geun-hye administration. It is as important as the private sector because it is a’public official blacklist’ related to the administration and legislation of the country. It is fortunate that despite the difficulties in the investigation stage, the first trial court judged this to be a serious crime, showing what justice and fairness are. In the meantime, the prosecution requested an arrest warrant for three people, including former Minister Kim, former Minister of Justice Cho Guk, and former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu, but were they all dismissed during the warrant review stage? This ruling reaffirmed the fact that’even if there is a slight delay, justice will someday come true’. It is hoped that other power-type corruption cases such as Wolseong nuclear power plant and Ulsan mayoral election intervention should be investigated without a hitch.