According to the testimonies made at the Seoul Southern District Court, working-level staff at KT advised against hiring VIP applicants only because they were the chairman’s “favorite”. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Former KT Corp. Chairman Lee Seok-chae and other management staff at the company were reportedly the ones who pushed for the illicit hiring of the family members of VIPs despite strong opposition within the company.
According to the testimonies made at the Seoul Southern District Court, working-level staff at KT advised against hiring VIP applicants only because they were the chairman’s “favorite”.
In June 2012, KT’s HR staff reported the interview results of two applicants to the chairman’s office, and were later ordered by the chairman hire the applicants.
In their report, the interviewers included negative remarks to make it clear that they recommended eliminating the candidates from the recruitment process.
Despite their “efforts,” the two applicants were hired based on the decision of “management staff.” One of the applicants turned out to be a daughter of a former assemblyman.
Management staff at KT were also open to illicit hiring, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Kim Ki-taek, a former human resources head at KT, testified that he was asked by the deputy head of KT Sports in 2012 to hire Liberty Korea Party Assemblyman Kim Sung-tae’s daughter, a contract worker at that time, as a regular employee.
Kim testified that she was one of the VIPs closely monitored by KT.
Despite continued pushback against the idea, Kim’s superiors were insistent on finding a way to hire her, forcing Kim to include her in the recruitment process for graduates in late 2012.
She joined the recruitment process long after application reviews and personality tests were complete.
Working-level staff were found out to be constantly struggling from these malpractices rampant among the management staff, including the chairman.
One former human resources employee agreed at a trial held on July 26 that there was frustration among working-level staff at human resources because they were forced to hire certain candidates against their better judgment.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
