The Ministry of Employment and Labor demanded a "severe disciplinary action" against the head of the Korea University of Technology and Education's Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training, who faces allegations of abuse of power and sexual harassment. The ministry took issue with mobilizing employees individually to carry out a research project improperly obtained and repeatedly summoning certain female employees to make sexually harassing remarks.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Oct. 20 announced the results of an audit of the Korea University of Technology and Education (KOREATECH) Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training regarding reports of abuse of power, sexual harassment, and poor institutional management by the institute's director.
The Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training is an affiliate under KOREATECH, which is overseen by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and is responsible for screening and evaluating vocational competency development programs. Related reports were filed through the anonymous reporting system (helpline) from June to August.
According to the audit, the director applied for and signed a contract for a 40 million won research project titled "Plan to advance the vocational competency development screening and evaluation system" as the principal investigator. This violated the Public Official Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, which states that one must not provide knowledge or information related to the duties of their affiliated public institution to others for compensation.
After the contract was signed, the audit also found that the director issued improper work orders unrelated to official duties, including mobilizing employees to carry out the project.
In addition, it confirmed violations of the duty to maintain dignity, such as repeatedly calling in certain female employees individually and engaging in inappropriate sexual remarks and behavior.
Based on the audit results, the ministry requested that KOREATECH impose severe disciplinary action on the institute's director.
Meanwhile, several problems were also found in KOREATECH's operation of the institute. It improperly managed the certification evaluation project for training institutions, and the system for selecting research projects was also inadequate. The Ministry of Employment and Labor told the institute to "promptly correct the problems related to certification evaluation."