`FM`s Daughter Got Preferential Treatment in Hiring`

The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry is known to have bent internal rules and granted favors to hire the daughter of Minister Yu Myung-hwan, a government audit said Monday.

Yu also knew of the hiring plan and results but did not issue a corrective order.

“This is what we`ve found after conducting a special audit on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Fairness and transparency were severely damaged in the recruiting and testing process,” the Public Administration and Security Ministry said.

Disciplinary action is likely on Foreign Ministry officials implicated in the scandal.

The audit found that the Foreign Ministry closed the recruitment application Aug. 11, 26 days after its second announcement of job openings July 16. The usual period is 15 days.

The deadline for applications was extended to give Yu’s daughter enough time to submit a score of the Test of English Proficiency, or TEPS, announced Aug. 10. The Foreign Ministry is under fire for accepting the TEPS score given that both the TOEFL and TEPS are normally required to assess English-language ability.

Other irregularities were cited in the Foreign Ministry`s easing of qualifications for the free trade agreement-related job. Instead of requiring a lawyer’s qualification, it changed its criteria to two years of experience after obtaining a master’s degree.

The Public Administration Ministry added that the Foreign Ministry included translator experience in the second job announcement after having excluded English editing experience in the first announcement.

Among the five applicants for the post, two Foreign Ministry officials gave 19 out of 20 points to Yu’s daughter, while giving 12 and 17 points to another finalist. Three university professors gave the third finalist two more points.

Foreign Ministry officials also attempted to influence external experts to favor the minister`s daughter, saying work experience was important for the job, according to the audit.

Public Administration and Security Minister Maeng Hyung-kyu told a news briefing, “We tried to be as strict as possible considering public disappointment and anger over this incident and their loss of trust in the government. We will complement systems to help ordinary people attain Grade 5 government positions.”

argus@donga.com