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| Dong-A Pharmaceutical CEO Choi Ho-jin appears on the YouTube channel, "Nego(tiation) King," on which the firm's feminine hygiene products were featured. After the episode was aired Friday, however, the firm has been embroiled in a controversy over sexism during its recruitment practices following accusations made by a former job applicant. Captured from YouTube |
By Jun Ji-hye
Dong-A Pharmaceutical is facing criticism online over allegations that its human resources staff asked female applicants sexist questions during job interviews last year. The CEO has made a public apology, but criticism has not abated, with the company even facing the threat of a boycott.
The public uproar over the alleged gender-discriminative acts is especially high because the company is known for its feminine hygiene products.
The accusations were made after an episode on the YouTube channel, "Nego(tiation) King," was aired Friday featuring the firm's feminine hygiene products.
In the video, popular presenter Jang Yeong-ran met Dong-A Pharmaceutical CEO Choi Ho-jin to negotiate a discount on the products. Choi vowed to give various discounts and donate part of the company's earnings to those in need, attracting public attention ― the video has generated more than 1.58 million views in four days as of Monday afternoon.
But a response from a viewer who identified herself as a former job applicant to the company sparked the unexpected criticism.
"I was the only female applicant during Dong-A's job interviews last year. At the time, one of the interviewers asked me if I agreed that women should receive a lower salary than men because women do not serve in the military," she wrote. "He also asked me whether I was willing to serve in the military."
All able-bodied men here must undertake military service for 18 to 22 months by law because South and North Korea are still technically at war. The issue of military duty is a highly sensitive subject here and often triggers gender conflict.
Her comments were followed by similar ones from other former applicants to the company, leading viewers to write comments criticizing the firm, such as "I cannot believe the company that sells feminine hygiene products discriminates against women" and "You don't want to recruit women, but want to sell feminine hygiene products."
Amid the growing controversy, CEO Choi wrote an apology.
"We confirmed that one of our interviewers asked unpleasant questions, which were not in line with our standardized procedures, during a job interview last November," Choi wrote. "We sincerely apologize to the applicant and our customers. We will take disciplinary action against the official in question and enhance relevant training."
The CEO's apology, however, failed to ease the controversy, with some online commentaters even calling for a boycott of the firm's products.
The Korean Women Workers Association claimed that the company attempted to paint the incident as a case of an individual's misbehavior, rather than a problem of the organization.
"The Ministry of Employment and Labor should launch an investigation to find out whether there have been other cases of discrimination against women during the firm's recruitment procedures," said Bae Jin-kyung, the head of the association.
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