NEC to conduct comprehensive investigation into alleged nepotism

Rho Tae-ak, head of the National Election Commission (NEC), said the election oversight agency will conduct an internal investigation into the alleged preferential hiring of children of high-ranking officials.

Rho Tae-ak, head of the National Election Commission, presides over a meeting of commissioners at the agency's headquarters in Gwacheon on Tuesday. The meeting's main agenda was discussing the hiring of children of the agency's former and incumbent high-ranking officials. [YONHAP]

Rho Tae-ak, head of the National Election Commission (NEC), said the election oversight agency will conduct a comprehensive investigation into the alleged preferential hiring of children of high-ranking officials.

In an emergency meeting of the agency's commissioners held at the NEC's headquarters in Gwacheon on Tuesday, Rho apologized to the public for its recent controversy.

The NEC commissioners plan to discuss reform measures in a meeting Tuesday to improve the transparency of personnel management, including hiring.

During the meeting, the commissioners will be briefed on the result of an internal audit involving four high-ranking officials, including Park Chan-jin, the NEC's secretary general, who offered his resignation last week.

Park is accused of abusing his power within the commission to land his daughter a job at the NEC.

This is the first time Rho has commented on the issue.

Rho said he had no specific reasons for not addressing the public earlier when the controversy broke out.

"I apologize," he said, adding he is closely monitoring the issue.

The issue surfaced when the JoongAng Ilbo reported on the preferential hiring of children of high-ranking officials earlier this month.

Park's daughter, who was a level-9 public servant at the Gwangju Nam District Office, applied for an opening for experienced public servants at the NEC's South Jeolla office in January last year before the presidential election.

It was later found that Park did not follow the agency's bylaws that require employees to report to the head of the agency if their relatives apply for a job at the NEC.

Park's daughter was promoted six months after starting at the NEC, which some say is unusually fast.

The children of other officials within the organization whom Park approved the hiring are also said to have been promoted unusually fast.

Six current and former high-ranking officials, including Song Bong-seop, deputy secretary general, and Kim Se-hwan, former secretary general, are accused of nepotism.

The NEC also faces controversy over its handling of North Korea's hacking attempts into its servers.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) told the JoongAng Ilbo earlier this month that it has repeatedly told the NEC about hacking attempts by North Korea, which is suspected of hacking into NEC servers seven times in the last two years.

The NIS said the NEC did not respond to continued warnings about the hackings. It also said the NEC said getting a security consultation from the NIS may cause controversy over the NEC's political neutrality, as the NIS is part of the executive branch.

However, after coming under pressure from the public, the NEC has agreed to a NIS-led probe into security breaches in the agency's servers.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]