'Opposition lawmaker's daughter got 'free pass' in KT hiring process'
Rep. Kim Sung-tae of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party speaks at a meeting at the National Assembly, Yeouido, Seoul, in this October photo. / Korea Times file
By Lee Suh-yoon
In the latest revelations of the Korea Telecom (KT)'s hiring scandal, prosecutors said an opposition lawmaker's daughter skipped the first two screening steps and failed an online test before she landed a full-time job at the nation's second-biggest telecommunications company.
The daughter of the former main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) floor leader Rep. Kim Sung-tae, failed to submit her job application on time in KT's 2012 spring open recruitment.
She submitted her application after the initial resume and aptitude assessments were over, but was included in the pool of finalists, prosecutors said in their indictment of former KT human resource executive Kim Sang-hyo that was submitted to the court on Monday.
The daughter failed the next step in the hiring process ― an online personality test ― but proceeded to the final interview stage anyway and got the full-time job. Prosecutors suspect her points in the evaluation system were manipulated by a top-down order from another former KT executive Seo Yu-yeol, who was arrested last week on charges of illicit hiring.
The revelations are the latest in KT's 2012 spring hiring season scandal, involving children of high-ranking public officials and political heavyweights. Last Wednesday, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office said it found evidence of hiring irregularities for at least nine job applicants and some of them admitted to the allegations.
The nine people included Rep. Kim's daughter, the daughter of a former high-ranking official in the Korea Airports Corp., and the daughter of a former secretary general of the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership.
Prosecutors plan to call in then-KT Chairman Lee Suk-chae and Rep. Kim for questioning in the near future. Meanwhile, Rep. Kim continues to maintain he did not influence KT's hiring process of his daughter.