Exclusive: Foreign Ministry Cancels Hiring of Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung's Daughter, Demands Disciplinary Action Against Officials

[Anchor]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has notified the daughter of former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung that her hiring plan has been canceled, following allegations of preferential treatment. Our investigation has confirmed that the ministry determined Ms. Shim did not meet the initial eligibility requirements and has demanded disciplinary action against three employees responsible for the recruitment process at the time.

Reporter Kim Hye-young has the exclusive report.

[Reporter]

Ms. Shim, the daughter of former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, was hired as a temporary researcher at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, which operates under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in March 2024.

After working for approximately eight months, she applied for a permanent contract researcher position at the Foreign Ministry in February of the following year. She passed all stages, including document screening, written exams, and interviews, for the single available position.

However, allegations of preferential treatment were raised in the National Assembly at the time.

[Han Jeoung-ae / Democratic Party lawmaker (March 24, 2024): There was a case where someone was hired by the Korea National Diplomatic Academy despite not meeting the qualification requirements. That person is Ms. Shim, the child of Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung.]

The issue was that the requirement for the researcher position at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy was a master's degree, but Ms. Shim was only a candidate expected to receive her master's degree at the time.

Furthermore, the eligibility criteria for the Foreign Ministry researcher position were advertised as requiring a master's degree plus at least two years of practical work experience, and allegations were raised that Ms. Shim failed to meet these requirements.

[Han Jeoung-ae / Democratic Party lawmaker (March 24, 2024): A person with only eight months of experience, which is insufficient, should not have even been eligible for the document screening process.]

In April of last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would suspend the hiring process for Ms. Shim, who was then a "hiring candidate."

About a year later, the ministry officially canceled the hiring plan for Ms. Shim.

Multiple Foreign Ministry officials told SBS, "We notified Ms. Shim on May 29 that her selection as a hiring candidate has been canceled because she did not meet the eligibility requirements."

They added, "We notified her via email as she did not answer our calls, but there has been no response from her."

The Foreign Ministry explained that an internal audit revealed that the three officials in charge of the recruitment process at the time had incorrectly recognized activities such as teaching assistant work and research assistance, which Ms. Shim performed before obtaining her master's degree, as valid practical work experience.

While the ministry could not determine whether the officials acted with malicious intent, it concluded that they were guilty of gross negligence and has requested the Central Disciplinary Committee to deliberate on disciplinary actions against them.

(Video reporting: Jo Chun-dong | Video editing: Choi Jin-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.