Election commission's internal probe finds 21 cases of nepotistic hiring

National Election Comission's Secretary General Huh Chul-hoon at the National Assembly to answer questions regarding nepotism within the organization on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The National Election Commission (NEC)'s internal investigation has found 21 cases in which preferential treatment occured in the hiring process.

Appearing before the National Assembly, the NEC’s new Secretary General Huh Chul-hoon said all 21 cases involved the hiring of relatives of former or incumbent employees.

Thirteen of the cases, more than half, involved the hiring of children of employees.

“Three cases involved spouses, two cases involved siblings and three involved close relatives, including cousins,” Huh told lawmakers.

Furthermore, 11 cases involved high-ranking officials while the rest involved lower-level employees.

However, he said the results of the internal investigation could differ from those of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI).

The election agency faced public backlash after top officials, including former Secretary General Song Bong-seop, were accused of nepotism.

Song’s daughter was hired by the agency, with Song suspected of influencing the process.

The accusation came as a shock as the agency was supposed to have high moral standards and to be bipartisan.

Despite growing demands for an investigation, the NEC had refused to be investigated by the BAI, citing its constitutional rights as an entity independent from the executive branch.

But as public frustration continued, the NEC’s commissioners finally decided to accept the BAI investigation a week after the initial refusal.

However, the commissioners limited the BAI inspection to the hiring issue without expanding to other controversies involving the agency, including allegations of covering up North Korean hacking attempts and excessive spending.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]