Changwon Cultural Foundation: "Handled According to Regulations, No Hiring Irregularities"

Foundation Refutes Democratic Party Council Members’ Allegations of Hiring Irregularities
Clarifies CEO Cho Youngpa’s Qualifications and Dismisses Claims of Career Inflation

The Gyeongnam Changwon Cultural Foundation issued a statement on May 24 regarding ongoing allegations of hiring irregularities involving its CEO, which have been continuously raised by the Changwon City Council members of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Earlier that morning, Democratic Party council members filed a criminal complaint with the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency against the foundation’s personnel committee members, accusing them of obstruction of business and other charges, claiming that they prevented a fair evaluation process.

In its statement, the foundation emphasized, “The Democratic Party city council members have repeatedly raised suspicions about the CEO hiring, from before the city council’s personnel hearing began until after the appointment was finalized,” and added, “The recent CEO recruitment was conducted in accordance with the job announcement and relevant regulations, and the allegations raised by some parties are entirely unfounded.”

Gyeongnam Changwon Cultural Foundation.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

The foundation also refuted claims that CEO Cho Youngpa’s application documents were incomplete due to the absence of detailed job descriptions in his career certificate.

“CEO Cho Youngpa meets the second qualification requirement for CEO (executive) applicants in the recent job posting, which is to have served as a public official in the culture and arts sector for more than one year at a final rank of grade 4 or higher,” the foundation stated. “He fulfilled this requirement by serving as Director of Planning for Masan City, Deputy Mayor of Changnyeong County, and Deputy Mayor of Masan City.”

“A career certificate is sufficient to prove this qualification,” the foundation added. “The career certificate submitted by CEO Cho is an official document stipulated by the Local Public Officials Personnel Administration Rules and does not constitute incomplete documentation.”

Regarding the allegation of inflating CEO Cho’s career experience, the foundation said, “CEO Cho’s length of public service is confirmed as 38 years and 5 months in his career certificate.” The foundation further explained, “However, the foundation’s HR officer made a clerical mistake by listing CEO Cho’s career as ‘Local Director-General (38 years and 5 months)’ in the recruitment evaluation form. To frame this as career inflation is an unreasonable stretch.”