"Thinking of Joining the Military?" "What About Marriage?" Gender-Discriminatory Questions in the Hiring Process, Is This Okay?

"Gi Seboinda" "Less Salary Because No Military Service" Widespread Gender Discrimination in Companies
21.1% of Job Seekers Asked Gender-Related Questions in Interviews
Experts Say "Hiring Gender Discrimination Blocks Women's Entry into Labor Market"

File photo. Controversy has arisen after Dong-A Pharmaceutical was revealed to have asked discriminatory questions during the hiring process last November, including asking female applicants if they planned to serve in the military. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] As Dong-A Pharmaceutical has caused a stir by asking discriminatory questions such as "Do you plan to serve in the military?" to female applicants during the hiring process, criticism of corporate hiring practices is intensifying as it has been revealed that interviewees frequently experience discrimination during actual recruitment processes.

Additionally, a post recently surfaced alleging that during a contract employee interview at the regional headquarters of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea (NACUFOK), an interviewer made sexually harassing remarks to a female applicant, such as asking "What do you focus on when dating a boyfriend?" raising concerns about 'gender-discriminatory interviews.'

Experts emphasize the need to reassess organizational culture regarding gender equality and human rights sensitivity and call for institutional improvements, including support from the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), to prevent recurrence.

Dong-A Pharmaceutical, embroiled in gender discrimination controversy, was found to have asked male applicants detailed questions about their military service during the new employee recruitment interviews last November, while female applicants were asked questions such as "Women haven't served in the military, so how do you feel about receiving less pay than men?" and "Do you plan to serve in the military?" sparking controversy.

This fact came to light when a female applicant, Ms. A, recently commented on a YouTube video about Dong-A Pharmaceutical, stating she had experienced gender discrimination during the interview last year. Subsequently, similar experiences were shared on corporate information platform JobPlanet and social networking services (SNS), spreading the controversy.

In response, Dong-A Pharmaceutical posted an apology under CEO Choi Hojin's name in the comments of the video, stating, "It has been confirmed that one interviewer made the applicant uncomfortable by deviating from the interview manual," and "We will take disciplinary action against the interviewer and strengthen internal training for interviewers to prevent such incidents from recurring."

According to a survey conducted by the job portal 'Saramin' in September last year with 1,732 job seekers, 21.1% of all respondents said they had been asked gender-conscious questions during interviews.
Photo by Yonhap News

However, after the Dong-A Pharmaceutical case became public, posts sharing similar interview experiences to Ms. A's have been circulating mainly on SNS, and the controversy over discrimination in the hiring process has not easily subsided.

Moreover, many posts on SNS reveal experiences of biased or appearance-evaluating questions such as "They asked my age and if I had a boyfriend; when I said no, they said I was too assertive," and "They said my face looked a bit different from the photo on my application."

Meanwhile, according to the financial sector on the 17th, a gender-discriminatory question also arose during the contract employee interview process at the regional headquarters of NACUFOK, causing a stir. According to a post on the workplace community app 'Blind' on the 13th, an interviewer asked a female applicant, "What do you focus on when dating a boyfriend?"

The interviewer reportedly also contacted the applicant privately around 9 p.m. on the interview day, offering to introduce her to a good company despite failing the contract position.

Upon learning this, NACUFOK launched an investigation. NACUFOK explained that the interviewer intended to introduce the applicant to another cooperative, not the regional headquarters within the central federation.

Regarding the controversy over the NACUFOK interviewer's gender-discriminatory question, a NACUFOK official stated, "We regret and apologize for the inappropriate incident at the regional headquarters within the central federation," and added that they plan to take measures against the interviewer.

◆ "What are your marriage plans?" Gender-discriminatory questions to female job seekers persist in interviews

Discriminatory experiences during the hiring process are also reflected in statistics. According to a survey conducted by the job portal Saramin in September last year targeting 1,732 job seekers, 21.1% of all respondents said they had been asked gender-conscious questions during interviews. This experience was notably higher among women (30.4%) than men (9.6%).

Specific questions included future marriage plans (50.7%) as the most common, followed by childbirth and child-rearing plans (43%), relationship status (37%), willingness to work overtime (34.5%), and thoughts on adapting to male- or female-dominated organizational cultures (30.4%).

The Joint Action Against Employment Gender Discrimination held a press conference on the 15th in front of Dong-A Pharmaceutical headquarters in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, condemning the recent incident where Dong-A Pharmaceutical asked gender-discriminatory questions to female applicants during the recruitment process. Photo by Yonhap News

They are holding a press conference condemning the incident where Dong-A Pharmaceutical asked female applicants gender-discriminatory questions such as "Do you plan to serve in the military?" during the recruitment process. Photo by Yonhap News

As stories of inappropriate questions during interviews continue to emerge, criticism of the pervasive gender-discriminatory attitudes in corporate culture is growing louder.

The 'Joint Action to Abolish Gender Discrimination in Hiring,' composed of 13 organizations, held a press conference on the 15th regarding the Dong-A Pharmaceutical interview controversy, stating, "It has been a week since the Dong-A Pharmaceutical hiring gender discrimination incident was exposed, but the company has yet to issue an official apology," and criticized, "The apology does not even minimally acknowledge 'gender discrimination in hiring' nor does it include concrete plans to prevent recurrence."

They added, "This clearly violates Article 7 of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating based on gender when recruiting or hiring workers," and urged, "Dong-A Pharmaceutical must establish comprehensive measures to eliminate gender discrimination in hiring and review overall employment gender discrimination." The Joint Action also demanded that MOEL immediately conduct a special labor inspection regarding the hiring gender discrimination incident.

◆ "Not an individual's problem but an organizational issue... Concerns over blocking women's entry into the labor market"

Experts stress the need to diagnose organizational culture regarding gender equality and human rights sensitivity and call for institutional improvements, including MOEL support, to prevent recurrence.

Researcher Gumi Young of the Korean Women's Development Institute pointed out, "For current employees, when discrimination or personnel disadvantages occur in the workplace, related parties can be sanctioned and punished," but added, "It is difficult to sanction or legally judge discriminatory remarks during interviews under current laws."

She emphasized, "Hiring discrimination like the Dong-A Pharmaceutical interview controversy can block women's entry into the labor market itself, so more institutional improvements are necessary."

Researcher Gumi Young further noted, "The Dong-A Pharmaceutical case shows that the problematic remarks were made by the HR team leader, indicating that this controversy is not an individual's issue but possibly a structural problem within the organization," and pointed out, "It is necessary to examine and diagnose whether the organizational culture encourages HR personnel to develop competencies related to employment equality."

She added, "It is essential to newly assess the organizational culture regarding gender equality and human rights sensitivity and to make institutional efforts, including MOEL support, to prevent recurrence."

Meanwhile, MOEL and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced they will strengthen necessary support and measures to eliminate gender discrimination factors in the hiring process and establish gender-equal recruitment.

The government plans to distribute a 'Gender-Equal Hiring Guide' containing specific criteria to check for gender-discriminatory hiring factors at each recruitment stage and examples of questions to avoid during interviews, conduct 'Gender-Balanced HR Management Capacity Building Training' for HR personnel in companies and institutions, and monitor job advertisements for gender discrimination.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.