On the 15th, the ruling and opposition parties engaged in a heated debate at the confirmation hearing for Lim Kwang-hyun, the nominee for Commissioner of the National Tax Service, regarding allegations of preferential treatment for former officials.
The opposition pointed out that the law firm where nominee Lim worked after retiring as Vice Commissioner of the National Tax Service recorded sales of over 10 billion won, describing it as "an unusual rapid growth," while the ruling party rebutted that "the sales figures are below average."
At the confirmation hearing held by the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly, the opposition, including the People Power Party and the Reform Party, demanded that nominee Lim submit the transaction details and profit and loss statements of the law firm 'Seonhaek,' where he worked from September 2022 until the general elections in April of last year.
People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-se said, "Currently, the submission rate of data is less than 50%. Without transaction data from the law firm, it will be difficult to assess whether the commission was appropriate, and refusing to submit relevant materials raises serious concerns."
Park Soo-young, a member of the same party, also stated that "Nominee Lim cannot refuse to submit materials based on the reasoning that they fall under work-related secrets, except for national security information, as he previously said during last year’s July confirmation hearing for former Commissioner of the National Tax Service Kang Min-soo."
Chun Ha-ram of the Reform Party noted, "The law firm Seonhaek has grown rapidly enough to achieve an operating profit of 3.18 billion won in the year following its establishment, so it is necessary to carefully verify whether this reflects preferential treatment for someone who has previously served as Vice Commissioner of the National Tax Service."
The Democratic Party of Korea defended nominee Lim, stating that he is not currently the representative of the law firm and therefore has no obligation to submit materials. Democratic Party lawmaker Jin Sung-jun said, "If there are issues related to the company's trade secrets or the confidentiality of clients under contract, those must be respected," adding, "If we are to address concerns about preferential treatment for former officials, we should question the nominee about specific incidents or request clarifications. "
Park Hong-geun, also from the same party, stated, "There is information among the law firm's tax information that is subject to disclosure and information that is excluded from disclosure," adding, "Information related to trade secrets, personal data, ongoing tax investigations, and information classified as confidential under law cannot be disclosed."
A lawmaker from the same party, Ahn Do-geol, argued, "Looking at the revenue of the law firm Seonhaek, it is even lower than what an average individual tax accountant makes," adding, "The numbers suggest that preferential treatment for former officials seems unlikely."
In response, nominee Lim said, "While I was affiliated with the firm, I was careful to ensure there was no violation of ethical guidelines as a retired public official, and the only remuneration I received from the firm was about 12 million won per month," stating, "I can assure you that there was no preferential treatment for former officials or anything of that sort."
Regarding the establishment of the firm, he mentioned, "I think people assume that I founded the firm, but that is not accurate," continuing, "I received an invitation to participate and joined the firm."
On the firm's revenue, he explained, "It did not start with high sales," adding, "Other members had been operating as accountants from large accounting firms and tax agents from the National Tax Service, and when they came together to establish the firm, the individual revenues aggregated into the total figure."