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

[Anchor]

It has been confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has notified the daughter of former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung that it is canceling her hiring, following allegations of preferential treatment. The ministry determined that Ms. Shim did not meet the eligibility requirements from the start and has requested disciplinary action against the employees who were in charge of the recruitment process at the time.

Morning Zoom-in, reporter Kim Hye-young has the story.

[Reporter]

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

After working for about eight months, she applied in February of the following year for a permanent contract researcher position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had only one opening. She passed the document screening, written exam, and interview.

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

[Han Jeoung-ae / Democratic Party lawmaker (March 24, 2025): There was an instance where someone was hired by the KNDA despite not meeting the qualification requirements. It is a person named Shim, the child of Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung.]

The issue was that the requirement for the KNDA researcher position was a "master's degree holder," but Ms. Shim was a "candidate" for a master's degree who was about to graduate at the time.

The eligibility for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs researcher position was also advertised as "master's degree holder with at least two years of practical experience," and allegations were raised that Ms. Shim did not meet these criteria.

[Han Jeoung-ae / Democratic Party lawmaker (March 24, 2025): A person who is short on experience with only eight months of work should not have been eligible for the document screening in the first place.]

In April 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it was suspending the hiring process for Ms. Shim, who was a "hiring candidate" at the time.

And now, about a year later, the ministry has officially canceled the hiring plan for Ms. Shim.

Multiple Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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 particular response."

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

While the ministry could not determine whether the recruitment staff acted with intent, it concluded that they were responsible for gross negligence and has requested the Central Disciplinary Committee to deliberate on disciplinary action.

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