Jeju International Convention Center Experienced Staff Unfair Hiring 'Corruption Allegations'

"Claim of Instruction to Change List Despite First Notification of Suitable Candidates by Recruitment Agency"

Center Explains "Self-Reexamination Due to Career Entry Errors... No Coercion"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters (Jeju) Reporter Park Chang-won] The Jeju International Convention Center (ICC) has been accused of unfair hiring practices, including arbitrarily classifying unqualified candidates as qualified and hiring them.

ICC conducts open recruitment for experienced positions through a recruitment agency, but it is alleged that fair hiring procedures were not followed during last year's open recruitment due to pressure from executives and employees.

According to a petition submitted to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, during the open recruitment held in March last year, the HR officer was on long leave, and the recruitment duties were handled by a deputy.

ICC, as in previous years, outsourced the open recruitment process to an external agency, requesting the recruitment announcement and the first round of document screening for experienced positions to be handled by the external recruitment agency.

The recruitment agency issued the announcement based on the service standards and notified ICC of the candidates who passed the first round of document screening through a fair evaluation process.

However, when two specific individuals among the open recruitment participants were classified as unqualified, ICC asked the recruitment agency to put the open recruitment on hold.

While the open recruitment was on hold, it is alleged that a senior ICC official, Mr. B, unjustly instructed the recruitment agency to change the status of the two specific individuals to qualified in the first round of document screening.

Subsequently, ICC had the recruitment agency independently re-evaluate the first round document screening results and notified them of the changed list of successful candidates.

The agency stated, “According to the document screening criteria, the first round of document screening (quantitative evaluation) was completed, and two specific individuals were notified as unqualified due to insufficient career duration, but ICC requested a temporary hold for internal review.”

They added, “Later, ICC contacted us and sent the list of first-round successful candidates, asking us to upload it as is,” and explained, “We have records and audio files of the exchanges during that time.”

Furthermore, it was reported that in another open recruitment, when a specific individual failed the interview by a margin of one point, ICC instructed the interview evaluation scores to be modified.

Mr. A stated, “There is an audio recording proving the hiring corruption mentioned in the petition to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission,” and added, “If a police investigation is conducted, it will serve as clear evidence of hiring corruption at the Jeju International Convention Center.”

He also said, “Since the public interest whistleblowing, I have endured workplace ostracism, harsh looks, and sarcastic remarks, but for the fair society that people in their 20s and 30s desire, and for those who missed opportunities due to this hiring corruption, I will definitely expose the hiring corruption at the Jeju Convention Center.”

In response, ICC stated, “There was an input error in the career details by the recruitment agency, so ICC conducted its own review and notified the successful candidates; there are no other conflicts of interest,” and explained, “We only had one phone call with the recruitment agency and did not issue any coercive instructions during the hiring process.”

Meanwhile, it is known that the case has been transferred to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency after the investigation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission was completed.