Jeju International Convention Center Hiring Corruption Recording Released... "They Asked Us to Precisely Match Only What We Want"

Conspiracy to Conceal Problematic Career Details of a Specific Individual

Seogwipo Police Station Conducts Informant Interview but No Further Investigation for Over 20 Days

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters (Jeju) Reporter Park Chang-won] A recording revealing prior collusion among three individuals?the center’s CEO, head of management, and head of HR?supporting allegations of recruitment corruption at Jeju International Convention Center (hereafter the Center) (Asia Economy, June 4, 2021, “Jeju International Convention Center Experienced Staff Unfair Recruitment ‘Corruption Suspicion’”) has surfaced.

The conversation transcript obtained by Asia Economy on the 25th contains evidence of collusion in which the Center’s CEO office, including the CEO and head of management, received reports from the head of HR and discussed issues regarding the career qualifications of a specific individual, Mr. A, during the experienced staff recruitment process.

The transcript includes discussions focusing on concerns about Mr. A’s four years of experience and the online system used by the recruitment agency to record career details.

In particular, the person referred to as the CEO instructs the head of HR, saying, “Just make sure to match exactly what we want. Don’t try to do everything from A to Z,” and when expressing dissatisfaction with the recruitment agency’s online document submission system, the CEO even relays a conversation with the applicant, stating, “Mr. A said, ‘I don’t know if the documents will be accepted or not.’”

Furthermore, criticizing the recruitment agency’s document submission system as inconvenient, the CEO directs a change in the recruitment system, saying, “It seems like we should handle the document submissions ourselves, and the recruitment agency should only objectively manage the tests.”

Attorney Kim Jeong-hee (47), who reviewed the transcript comprehensively, interpreted, “The Center was aware that Mr. A’s career qualifications were problematic, and fearing that the personnel committee would reject Mr. A if they found out, they discussed passing the document screening on the assumption that similar job experience would be acceptable.”

She also expressed the view that “Despite the flaws in the career requirements being an issue, there are signs of attempting to cover it up, indicating that there was already a plan for preferential recruitment.”

In response to Asia Economy’s questions about this controversy, the Center’s CEO stated, “It is difficult to respond as this matter is under investigation.”

Meanwhile, Mr. A, who appears in the transcript, is the subject of suspicion for being initially classified as unsuitable in the first document screening by the recruitment agency but later changed to suitable under coercive instructions from the Center (Asia Economy, June 4, 2021, “Jeju International Convention Center Experienced Staff Unfair Recruitment ‘Corruption Suspicion’”).

If these details are proven true, the Center would have altered the recruitment agency’s document screening suitability for Mr. A’s hiring and, despite knowing the issues with the career qualifications during the personnel committee’s final review, attempted to pass him regardless, thus leading to accusations of orchestrating unfair recruitment twice.

Currently, this case was transferred from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission to the Seogwipo Police Station, and although about 20 days have passed since the whistleblower’s investigation, no additional related investigations have been confirmed.

The officer in charge at Seogwipo Police Station explained the slow progress by stating, “There are only four investigators in the intelligent crime investigation team,” and “Due to the nature of the investigation, there are many things to verify, causing delays in questioning related parties.”

However, the initial whistleblower and some citizens observing this case claim that there are signs of internal cover-ups and inducements within the Center, pointing out the need for a swift investigation.