South Korea's newly launched Major Crimes Investigation Agency is facing criticism over its personnel screening and job assignments. An investigator under internal review for allegedly accepting gift certificates from a company under investigation moved to the agency, and cases have emerged of investigators assigned to posts unrelated to their experience or expertise, raising questions about the fairness of the agency's hiring standards.
According to legal sources on the 17th, an investigator identified as A, a grade-6 official who previously worked in the fair trade investigation division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office — now the Seoul Prosecution Office — had dinner with colleagues and an executive at a CJ Group affiliate, identified as B, a former prosecution investigator. The dinner took place shortly after the Chuseok holiday last month.
A and the others received Olive Young gift certificates worth 100,000 won at the dinner, according to sources. Some of the investigators who attended returned the certificates and voluntarily reported the matter to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office the following day.
Prosecutors opened an internal review to determine whether the anti-graft law had been violated. While that review was under way, A passed the final round of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency's special hiring process. A now works as a team leader in a unit at the Seoul branch of the agency that investigates corporate collusion cases.
The agency was unaware that A was under review by the Seoul Prosecution Office at the time of the hiring, according to sources. Asked whether it had known about the review in advance and whether it had concluded the hiring posed no problem, an agency official said it could not confirm. The official added that the agency "will take lawful measures, including removal from duties or disciplinary action, in line with the findings once the review results are reported to us."
The review of A is at the stage of establishing the facts through questioning, according to sources. The Seoul Prosecution Office says that after completing its fact-finding, it can share the status of reviews involving A and other staff who moved to the agency if the agency requests it.
Job assignments following the special hiring have also drawn criticism. Many investigators were placed in departments unrelated to their experience or expertise, prompting complaints that the criteria for the assignments are unclear.
Some regional branches of the agency tried to adjust staffing on their own, but headquarters blocked the moves, according to sources. Critics also noted that investigators who had worked on the Daejang-dong development corruption case or on criminal intelligence gathering at the prosecution service were rejected, while an investigator previously disciplined for drunk driving was hired and is now on the job.
The agency said it did not exclude candidates from hiring solely because they had handled specific assignments such as the Daejang-dong case or criminal intelligence gathering. On the hiring of the investigator with a drunk-driving record, the agency said it had checked the circumstances and found no problem with the appointment.