By Jung Min-ho
From schools to companies in Korea, applicants often face personal questions such as, “How much money does your father make?” or, “Are you divorced?”
Asking these questions may soon be illegal, however.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Justice said Monday they will propose a bill to ban these discriminatory questions in evaluating student admissions and job applicants.
“The purpose of the law is to eliminate discrimination based on family background,” a health ministry official said. “We found that children from less privileged families often get discriminated against.
“So we suggested the idea recently to the Ministry of Justice, and it is under consideration now.”
If everything goes well, questions about applicants’ privacy such as their family situation and marital status will be banned. Also, institutions will not be allowed to ask for documents containing details of family backgrounds such as a copy of the resident’s registration.
The law is a meaningful step for the country, where infringement on privacy is prevalent.
For example, many Korean companies require job applicants to provide information such as age, gender, height and weight and even whether they own a house. And such practices are rampant in schools, too.
Asking such information for jobs is considered illegal and would draw lawsuits in many developed countries, including the United States and Canada.
Under laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of their race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or genetic information.