The Ministry of Employment and Labor was found on the 10th to have determined that there were violations of the Fair Hiring Procedure Act in connection with allegations of preferential hiring at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy for the daughter of former Prosecutor General Sim Woo-jung.
According to the ministry, the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office recently concluded, after investigating whether the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs violated the Fair Hiring Procedure Act in connection with the alleged preferential hiring of Sim's daughter, identified as A, that this was the case.
Previously, some members of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, including Han Jeong-ae of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised allegations that A received preferential treatment in the process of being hired last year as a fixed-term researcher at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and this year as a public-service researcher at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They said A was a "master's degree candidate," yet passed a recruitment that required a master's degree. There are also allegations that the eligibility requirements were changed and reposted from the existing economics field to international politics, A's major.
In response, the labor office determined that because A, who did not meet the qualifications, passed under the revised job posting, the change was made to the disadvantage of job seekers who did meet the qualifications.
It also said there was no unavoidable reason for the change that would have required including "master's degree candidates" like A, even though many applicants held master's degrees.
However, the labor office said no documentary evidence, testimony, or circumstances indicating directions or pressure related to hiring by Park Cheol-hee, then president of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, were found. It also viewed that allegations related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hiring did not constitute legal violations. It said there was no basis to conclude that the second job posting, in which A passed, was tailored for A, or that the first round's final interviewee was rejected to hire A.
The labor office said it asked the Ministry of Justice in Jul. whether fines can be imposed on a state institution for violations of the Fair Hiring Procedure Act by the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and is awaiting a reply. Fines are a type of administrative disposition, not a criminal penalty.
Meanwhile, Sim's side is said to maintain that the daughter went through a normal hiring process and that there was no preferential treatment. Earlier, as controversy arose over the allegations, Sim issued a statement through the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office in Mar., expressing regret over what he called "groundless claims" and saying, "The prosecutor general's eldest daughter was hired as a researcher at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy through a fair and transparent process in accordance with the job posting." He also said during the confirmation hearing for prosecutor general that he had provided an explanation and undergone verification on the matter.