There are signs that there was outside political influence in the hiring irregularities at Kia Motors' factory in Gwangju. Prosecutors have found that in addition to union leadership and company officials, a considerable number of powerful individuals outside the company also got involved in trying to have people hired when the factory was hiring contract production workers. They are therefore engaged in an in-depth investigation and the case has been transferred from prosecution's criminal division to the central investigations division.
It turns out that Kia Motors set aside around 100 positions to be available for people recommended by outside influentials. The list of influential people includes a considerable number of politicians, the local Labor Ministry office, the Military Manpower Administration, and police officials. It has been revealed that when job candidates who had been recommended by powerful people outside the company were given higher scores on their interviews and subsequently included on the final list of people accepted. People who were recommended in such a way only had to meet lax qualification standards, and in many cases were approved even though they had reasons for disqualification. On the other hand, people who had been recommended by the local office of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs were held to strict standards when it came to education and physical ability.
It shows you just how morally lax our society has become. Right now in our society there are people unemployed and suffering during this drawn out recession. It is truly immoral of powerful individuals to have gotten people jobs deserved by others at a time when finding employment is so difficult. If it is discovered that bribes were received in exchange for the favor asking then their behavior was shameless and should not be overlooked. Common sense tells you that such activity would not have transpired were there something received in exchange. There needs to be the strictest investigation so as to help eradicated collusion between politicians and businessmen and build a transparent society.
It feels like you're looking at a hotbed of corruption in hiring in business, complete with collusion between the union and the company, favor asking by influential heavyweights, and even "brokers" acting as middlemen. At the root of this case lies our society's paralyzed sense of ethics as seen in the way the company appeased the union, the way the union was engaging in corruption that worked against laborers, the custom of collusion between business and politics, and discrimination towards irregular workers. The bigger unions became sources of power unto themselves long ago, and they and others with power in our society need to ask themselves painful questions about whether they are using their massive strength justly.
The Hankyoreh, 28 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Powerful People Involved in Kia Corruption |
