Over 20 Cases of 'Election Commission Preferential Hiring'... Ruling and Opposition Criticize at the Public Administration Committee (Comprehensive)

Heo Cheol-hoon Deputy Secretary-General "Identified About 20 Cases in Full Investigation"
Ruling and Opposition Parties "Insincere Submission of Data... Behavior Disrespecting the National Assembly"

More than 20 cases of preferential hiring suspicions were identified in a full investigation of the recruitment of children and relatives of employees at the Central Election Commission.

On the afternoon of the 22nd, Heo Cheol-hoon, Deputy Secretary-General of the Election Commission, stated at the plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee in response to a query by Jeon Bong-min, a member of the People Power Party, regarding the full investigation results, "I understand there are about 20 cases of preferential hiring suspicions." Previously, the Election Commission confirmed 11 cases of hiring involving children of senior officials at grade 5 or above. Subsequently, about 10 additional cases were identified through a full investigation into the hiring of relatives of employees at grade 6 or below.

Heo Cheol-hoon, Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Election Commission, is reporting on work at the Administrative and Security Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 22nd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

During the meeting, both ruling and opposition parties strongly criticized the suspicions of preferential hiring involving children of senior officials at the Election Commission. In particular, members of the People Power Party on the Public Administration and Security Committee harshly condemned the Election Commission for refusing to submit materials requested by the National Assembly.

Assemblyman Jeong Woo-taek pointed out, "They used 'dad's chance,' 'cousin's chance,' and 'relative's chance' in career recruitment," adding, "It is natural for an unchecked organization to become corrupt." Referring to the Election Commission's stance of filing a constitutional complaint against the Board of Audit and Inspection's job audit, Jeong criticized, "They seem to be calculating that if they receive a favorable ruling from the Constitutional Court, they can nullify the effect of the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit."

Assemblyman Kwon Seong-dong remarked, "Public outrage is escalating, but it seems the Election Commission's internal staff do not feel the seriousness," and criticized, "Senior officials at the Election Commission have operated it as if it were their own pocket or private property."

Assemblyman Kim Woong also questioned, "Is it sane to respond that 'the data is with the audit department' when asked to send the results of the internal full investigation on child recruitment?" He further asked, "If the Election Commission tells politicians that 'the data is in the office' when they request materials, would the Election Commission just let it go?"

Kim Gyo-heung, chairman of the Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party, also mentioned the Election Commission's insincere submission of materials, stating, "The Election Commission is insulting the National Assembly," and demanded, "Submit all the full investigation results to the assembly members." In response, Deputy Secretary-General Heo Cheol-hoon replied, "I understand there are about 20 cases of hiring suspicions (from the full investigation results)," and added, "We will sincerely submit the materials to the National Assembly going forward."

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