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Former officials of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS), an affiliate of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, are moving in succession to full-time vice chairman posts at machinery and plant industry associations. Amid the government's tighter reviews of post-retirement employment for public officials, they are seen as having won approval thanks to their expertise and fewer concerns over job-relatedness.
According to the industry on the 4th, the Korea Association of Machinery Industry (KOAMI) has tapped Kim Sang-mo, former director general of KATS' Product Safety Policy Bureau, as its full-time vice chairman. Kim recently received employment approval from the Government Public Ethics Committee and is set to be finalized following a resolution at the KOAMI board meeting on the 20th. He is expected to begin work in earnest as early as the 21st.
KOAMI is an association of domestic machinery firms led by Doosan Enerbility (034020) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (329180), handling policy recommendations, export support, exhibitions, and international cooperation. The full-time vice chairman oversees the association's operations while serving as a bridge between the industry and the government. Kim previously served as director of the Machinery and Robotics Division, the Energy New Industry Policy Division, the Regional Industry Division, the Industrial Technology Convergence Policy Bureau, and as spokesman at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Lee Wee-ro, former director of KATS' Certification Industry Promotion Division, has been named full-time vice chairman of the Korea Plant Industries Association. Lee is scheduled to formally take office on the 5th. A technical expert with a bachelor's and master's degree in precision mechanical engineering and a doctorate in mechanical engineering, Lee built most of his career at KATS. The Plant Industries Association carries out support for overseas plant orders, expert workforce training, and policy research, with member companies including construction and engineering firms such as Samsung C&T (028260) and Samsung E&A, as well as energy companies such as Korea Electric Power. Its full-time vice chairman oversees support for these member firms, government policy coordination, and responses to overseas projects.
The industry is taking note of how both men smoothly cleared the review despite the government's recent stance of tightening employment screening for retired officials. Unlike headquarters units that directly implement industrial policy, KATS, an external organization of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, is dedicated to national standards, certification, and technical regulation, and is seen as having relatively low direct job-relatedness with specific companies or associations.
"In the machinery and plant industries, the importance of international standards, certification, and responding to technical regulations is growing ever larger," an industry official said. "Their long experience in related work at KATS is expected to help the associations' policy responses and support for member companies."
