MBC Responds to Criticism of 'Modern Nepotism' with "Son Seok-hee's Son Received Excellent Practical Interview Evaluation... Reputation Also Excellent"
Son Seok-hee, president of JTBC, his son Son Mo was revealed to have passed the 2022 MBC experienced reporter open recruitment, and as criticism arose from some quarters calling it a 'modern-day nepotism system,' MBC stated that there were no issues in the hiring process. / Photo by JTBC Newsroom capture.
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] When it was revealed that Son Mo, the son of Son Seok-hee, president of JTBC, had finally passed the 2022 MBC experienced reporter recruitment exam, MBC's minority union, the 3rd Union, criticized it as a "modern-day nepotism system." In response, MBC rebutted the union's claims, stating that there was no problem with the recruitment process.
On the 23rd, MBC expressed "deep regret over the baseless false claims" regarding the 3rd Union's issue with Son's recruitment.
MBC added, "The recruitment of new and experienced employees is conducted through a fair procedure," and "During the interview process, no personal information about parents is provided, so it is impossible to know who they are or to have any interest."
Earlier, the 3rd Union issued a statement regarding Son's hiring, saying, "There are criticisms within the company calling it a 'modern-day nepotism system' and 'inheritance of labor aristocracy,'" and "Experienced reporters at MBC are usually assigned directly as broadcast reporters without a probation period, so they mainly hire broadcast reporters from terrestrial, general programming, or local broadcasters. It is rare to hire experienced reporters from economic newspapers like the son of President Son."
They continued, "It is also surprising that Son took the final interview without having proven abilities such as uncovering several notable exclusive stories. Hiring children as if through mutual favors cannot be tolerated in our society," they added.
The union also raised their voices, citing that President Son was a former MBC union executive and MBC President Park Sung-je was also a former union chairman, saying, "There is talk that the father's connections shadowed Son's hiring process," and "Son should be disqualified."
MBC fully refuted the union's claims. MBC stated, "In Son's case, he received the highest scores from all interviewers during the practical interview focused on reporters," and "His reporting skills shown in solo articles and the reputation from colleagues who worked with him in the field were excellent."
They added, "There are too many cases to list where former newspaper reporters have been hired in experienced reporter recruitment."
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