One issue that promises to come to the fore during the parliamentary hearings of ministerial nominees that start on Wednesday is “ jeon - gwan - ye - u , ” a time - old practice in the legal community whereby retired judges and public prosecutors who start a legal practice receive special treatment from their incumbent former colleagues . In recent years , the unwholesome practice has spread to officialdom . These days , retired high - ranking government officials expect and receive preferential treatment from their incumbent former colleagues after having taken private - sector jobs . This informal arrangement helps retired senior judges , prosecutors and government officials earn high salaries at law firms , consulting companies or other private enterprises that do business with government agencies . The harmful practice has already been highlighted during the confirmation hearing last week for Prime Minister - designate Chung Hong - won . The former veteran prosecutor worked for a law firm as an adviser for 20 months from October 2006 . During the period , he received about 600 million won in pay or 30 million won per month . To ordinary people , the remuneration for Chung was excessive . Yet it was not a particularly high for legal circles . In fact , Hwang Kyo - an , a former prosecutor who was nominated to become minister of justice , received 100 million won a month from a law firm for his services between September 2011 to December 2012 . Hwang , whose confirmation hearing is slated for Feb . 28 , faces pressure from the main opposition Democratic United Party to give up his nomination . Another minister nominee targeted by the DUP is Kim Byung - gwan , former deputy commander of the South Korea - U . S . Combined Forces Command , who was named to lead the Defense Ministry . Kim worked as an adviser for the Korean representative of a German arms exporter for two years from July 2010 and received 215 million won for his services . Kim is suspected of having used his influence on the Defense Ministry for a project pushed by the German company . “ Jeon - kwan - ye - u ” itself is a bad practice that should be rooted out . A more serious problem is that retired judges , prosecutors and government officials who have earned a fortune at law firms or other private companies by peddling their influence are often appointed to Cabinet posts or other powerful offices . If these people become ministers or heads of other government agencies , they could find it difficult to reject requests for favors from the companies they had once worked for . Furthermore , the possibility of retired officials being appointed to influential posts makes it difficult for their incumbent colleagues to turn down their requests for favors , thus reinforcing the unhealthy practice . Therefore , retired judges , prosecutors and government officials who have chosen to make money through influence peddling should be avoided as far as possible when making public office appointments . [ Hot News ] ◆ Park takes helm ◆ Economic democratization overshadows inauguration ◆ Welfare , public safety focus of Park ’ s agenda ◆ Where have we seen it before ? ◆ British teen dies in fall from ski lift