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By Choi Ha-young
Kangwon Land, Korea's only casino where citizens can legally gamble, is becoming the main target in the government's anti-corruption drive as revelations show the public firm has offered jobs to hundreds of people recommended by politicians and ranking officials.
According to Rep. Lee Hoon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), all 518 successful candidates who landed jobs in the company from 2012 to 2013 had been recommended by then-Kangwon Land CEO Choi Heung-jip as well as community leaders and lawmakers of the then-ruling conservative Saenuri Party.
"This represents a deep-rooted problem in public companies influenced by powerful figures," Rep. Lee said Thursday during a National Assembly audit. "I support lawsuits by candidates who failed to get jobs in Kangwon Land due to its illicit connections with politicians. They were deprived of opportunities."
DPK Rep. Cho Eung-cheon echoed the comments. "The corruption in the public enterprise's hiring process left deep scars in young jobseekers," Cho said. "The unfair process poked fun at other candidates who were not aware of the illicit sponsorship."
Rep. Lee revealed five sitting LKP lawmakers who solicited for their acquaintances' jobs _ Reps. Kweon Seong-dong, Yeom Dong-yeol, Han Sun-kyo, Kim Han-pyo and Kim Ki-sun. At that time under ex-President Park Geun-hye, the Saenuri Party, which became the LKP, had considerable authority in budget allocation for the province. Two former Saenuri lawmakers ― Lee Lee-jae and Lee Kang-hoo ― were also listed.
Journalists, Buddhist monks, a high school vice principal, the owner of a restaurant and a cousin of a lawmaker also appeared on the list as recommenders.
According to the list created by Kangwon Land's personnel affairs department, Reps. Kweon illicitly recommended 11 people and Yeom recommended 46. Reps. Kweon, Yeom and Kim Ki-sun represent electoral districts in Gangwon Province and the two former lawmakers used to represent other districts in the province.
Particularly, Rep. Kweon has been under suspicion of supporting his former secretary, surnamed Kim, to get a well-paid job at the casino. The position opened in 2013 was dedicated to managing water quality at the casino and required at least five years of relevant experience.
Kim was unqualified for the position but achieved a perfect score among 33 applicants, according to the Board of Audit and Inspection, Sept. 5. CEO Choi reportedly ordered casino officials to hire Kim and the candidate submitted his resume even before the job notification.
After the state auditor's announcement, Kangwon Land admitted to the corruption in its personnel affairs last month. "We apologize for committing a crime which would have been possible only in the 1960s or 1970s," the company said on Sept. 12.
According to Rep. Lee Hoon, Choi recommended about half of the successful candidates, or 267. And 95 percent of the 267 got jobs in the company. Choi, who headed the casino from July 2011 to February 2014, was appointed under then-President Lee Myung-bak and ran for Gangwon Province governor in 2014.
"It seems Choi had intended to gain political benefits for his candidacy in the local election by granting requests from ruling party politicians and influential people in the region," Rep. Lee said in a press release, Monday. Further, Lee raised suspicions there could be hidden figures behind Choi whose acquaintances he hired.
"According to the prosecution, Choi was solicited to hire certain candidates from others," Lee said. "However, prosecutors only indicted Choi and the human resources director rather than investigating who actually asked for favors."
Among incumbent and former lawmakers, prosecutors only questioned Yeom and Lee Lee-jae. The investigation was held through documents instead of face-to-face. In response to media reports and mounting calls from civic groups, the prosecution on Monday vowed to thoroughly investigate the scandal.
