Corruption watchdog to sic 'seasoned' investigators on NEC

Chung Seung-yun, vice chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), speaks during a press briefing at Government Complex Seoul in central Seoul on Thursday.

The nation’s corruption watchdog on Thursday said it would form an investigation team with seasoned experts solely dedicated to probing the preferential hiring scandal at the National Election Commission (NEC).

In a press briefing held in downtown Seoul at the Government Complex Seoul, Chung Seung-yun, vice chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), told reporters that the agency would thoroughly dig into the allegations “by law and principle” and candidly reveal the results to the public.

Chung’s remarks came two days after the ACRC chief, Jeon Hyun-heui, said her organization would launch a month-long all-out investigation into the NEC from Thursday to the end of June.

According to Chung, the investigation team will be composed of professionals with profound expertise in investigating employment corruption.

“The preferential hiring allegations have been causing immense public anger among many citizens, including the younger generation,” said Chung. “As a result, there is a growing lack of trust in the overall recruitment process of public institutions.”

Chung dismissed any chances of holding a joint investigation with the NEC, suggesting the public wouldn’t believe the results of a probe wherein the NEC was involved.

The ACRC vice chairperson warned the NEC not to resist or hamper the ACRC’s investigation.

The NEC, the main role of which is to guarantee fair and just elections in Korea, is facing scrutiny for alleged nepotism after local media shed light on the children of high-ranking NEC officials getting hired and promoted early at regional NEC offices.

At least six such cases involving former and current high-level NEC officials were busted.

In all six cases, the high-ranking officials did not formally report to the NEC that their children were applying for jobs at the commission, which is a violation of the code of conduct for public officials.

Rho Tae-ak, the chairperson of the NEC, apologized to the public Wednesday and said the NEC would carry out its own all-out nepotism investigation with an external agency to look into the hiring of relatives linked with former and current NEC workers.

Rho stressed he had no plans to resign.

Rep. Lee Man-hee of the People Power Party (PPP) on Thursday raised new allegations that high-ranking NEC officials also influenced the hiring and promotions of their siblings. The PPP lawmaker accused a high-ranking official at a metropolitan-level NEC office of exerting influence in the early promotion of a lower-level official at an NEC office in Seoul, who happens to be his younger brother.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN, YOON JI-WON [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]