“Kia Motors Union Executive Receives Money and Pressures Employment”

Suspicions for corruption in the employment for the Kia Motors Gwangju factory have been brought up. Some 1,000 people were picked last year as contract employees for production and over 40 percent did not meet the requirements.

The violent crime division of Gwangju District Public Prosecutor’s Office (DPPO) is investigating into the suspicion that union executive, Mr. A at the Gwangju factory, had received a large amount of money from at least eight job seekers and arranged their employment.

Kia Motors announced on Thursday, January 20, relating to last year’s employment of contract workers for production in the Gwangju factory, that Kim Ki-cheol, the factory’s manager, and the personnel director have recently resigned.

It was found out that these two took the responsibility and resigned after it was discovered that 450 of the 1,079 contract workers, who were employed over three separate occasions from May to July last year, did not meet the employment standard of “under 30 and at least a high school graduate.”

In this course, the possibility that some union executives received a recompense for the employment and pressed or lobbied the company’s personnel manager is being brought up.

In the meanwhile, Gwangju DPPO announced that it is investigating into the suspicion that union executive Mr. A received employment recompense from eight people, including Mr. B who asked for his nephew’s employment and gave 18 million won to the Gwangju factory union office last year in May.

The prosecution has confirmed that 120 million won, which appears to be an employment recompense, was deposited into a stock exchange account in the name of Mr. A’s wife last July.

Kia Motors labor union made an urgent statement this day, and announced, “Some 200 executives from the Soha-ri, Hwasung, and Gwangju plants and sales and servicing branch offices have decided to resign and take responsibility for this matter.”

Seung-Ho Jung shjung@donga.com koh@donga.com