On the 19th, Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, revealed his application for the SW Maestro program. Photo by Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, Facebook capture.
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim So-young] Amid allegations that Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, was selected as a government-supported trainee despite being ineligible during his alternative military service, a peer who participated as a trainee in the first cohort of the SW Maestro program alongside him has claimed that there were procedural issues in Lee's acceptance process, sparking controversy.
A, who identified himself as a fellow trainee, stated on his social media on the 21st, "Now to him, who is no longer just a fellow trainee but the leader of the main opposition party ranked 7th in the national protocol order: Have you always competed 'fairly'?"
A said he applied to the SW Maestro program in 2010, and at that time, the announcement specified that only current students could apply, and those serving under military service special cases were excluded from selection. A, who was working at a startup while postponing graduation to maintain student status, said that a clause prohibiting concurrent employment was added during the selection process, which eventually led him to give up the SW Maestro program midway.
Despite passing up to the second round in the three-stage selection process, A criticized that unlike himself, who gave up due to ineligibility, Lee was accepted as a trainee despite being a graduate and serving as an industrial technical personnel.
He pointed out, "When you filled out the application, did you ever find the 'affiliated school' section strange? Out of 99 people, you were the only graduate; didn't that seem odd?" He added, "There is a section called 'affiliated school' on the application. If graduates who are not active professionals were eligible to apply from the start, then this form was poorly designed."
He continued, "There is clearly a procedural flaw in Lee's acceptance. However, I do not intend to link this to 'dad's power' or corruption," adding, "Since it was all a first-time experience, many parts were probably not smooth."
In response to this controversy, Hwang Dae-san, CEO of the IT company 'Eotteon Saramdeul' who served as the selection committee chair at the time, directly clarified on his Twitter.
Hwang said, "It seems that the document in question was a draft prepared by the government before the official recruitment," and added, "Since the SW Maestro program was a new project at the time, I assume the government frequently changed operational plans, including eligibility criteria."
He explained, "Although it is now recognized as a major privilege project, back then, promotion was so insufficient that we worried about barely filling the quota," and "I think some awkward aspects of the early project surfaced as issues now."
He further stated, "Was the SW Maestro program only open to university students? No. It was a program open without restrictions except for active professionals," and "Were industrial technical personnel eligible? Yes. There was a government guideline that industrial technical personnel were considered non-active professionals."
Meanwhile, this issue arose after Kim Yong-min, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised allegations of preferential treatment in Lee's government trainee selection process during his alternative military service on the 18th.
In response, Lee revealed his application documents, stating, "I confirmed everything with the Military Manpower Administration and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency before applying," and "I applied and was accepted as a graduate." The 'affiliated school' section on Lee's disclosed application states that he was an industrial technical personnel who graduated from Harvard University.
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