South Korea lawmakers challenge Kangwon Land CEO appointment
A hearing raised questions about the professional backgrounds of Kangwon Land’s senior executives and the company’s controls over employee expenses.
South Korea.- South Korean opposition lawmakers have challenged the appointment of Kangwon Land chief executive Kim Do-gyun, questioning the selection process and his qualifications to lead the casino operator. The criticism came during a parliamentary audit on October 19, where lawmakers from the opposition People Power Party (PPP) also raised concerns about the company’s management and the use of corporate credit cards by employees.
Kangwon Land operates South Korea’s only casino that allows domestic residents to gamble. Kim, a former chairman of the Democratic Party’s Gangwon provincial chapter, took office on September 2 as its 11th chief executive.
PPP lawmaker Cho Ji-yeon questioned Kim’s recruitment scores of 96.25 in the document review and 93.25 in the interview. She argued that the scores were “mathematically impossible” without full marks in four of the five assessment categories, excluding industry knowledge and experience. She called for the release of the evaluation reports for all applicants.
Choi Soo-jin, another PPP lawmaker, challenged the decision to reopen recruitment after an earlier round produced five qualified candidates. She also cited objections from Kangwon Land’s labour union, which labelled Kim’s appointment a “parachuted appointment” and questioned his professional and administrative qualifications.
PPP lawmaker Seo Ji-young also criticised the backgrounds of senior executives, asking whether a former military officer, a former National Intelligence Service official and a former politician had the appropriate experience to run Kangwon Land.
Kim defended his performance as chief executive but declined to address questions about his attendance at events involving Democratic Party members, stating that the matter was not relevant to the parliamentary audit.
The audit also examined corporate credit card spending. Data submitted to the National Assembly showed that Kangwon Land employees made 3,593 weekend and public holiday transactions between 2022 and August 2026, totalling KRW933.86m (US$679,000). The transactions included payments at butcher shops, bakeries and drinking establishments, despite restrictions on certain corporate card uses. Kim said Kangwon Land has launched an internal review of the spending and would decide on further action after completing the investigation.
