Byun Chang-heum, candidate for Minister of Lands, Infrastructure and Transport, President of SH

Suspicion was raised that candidate Byeon Chang-heum, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, had preferentially hired students from a school near him as a senior SH position while serving as president of the Urban and Housing Corporation of Seoul (SH).

In response, candidate Byun explained that the recruitment was achieved through an objective selection process.

Suspicions are raised that five of the nine high-ranking seniors hired by SH between 2014 and 2017 were from the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Seoul National University, where President Byun earned a master’s and doctorate degrees.

Before candidate Byun became president, there was no precedent for SH to hire outside staff as high-ranking positions, so there was a controversy about “skydiving” within SH at the time.

In response, candidate Byun submitted clarifying data through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and insisted that it was unfounded.

He said: “SH introduced an open positions system in December 2014 in order to recruit experts who are expected to create professionalism and job performance, and the selection process is fair enough to participate as a selection committee, including the chairman of the SH union in the selection process through public offers. It is done, “he explained.

He added: “While the selected experts were in office, they contributed a lot to the construction of SH in areas such as residential wellness, urban regeneration, and overseas development projects.”

It is also noted that candidate Byeon fulfilled the condition that he would switch to a permanent contract if his performance was good in selecting a non-regular employee, but it was also noted that he violated his trust by switching to an office support worker or firing him.

In 2013, referring to the possibility of becoming a weapons contractor, SH hired 7 marketing experts as short-term contract workers, but despite their excellent performance afterwards, none of them became a weapons contractor.

In this regard, candidate Byun said: “SH Corporation has hired 7 unusual marketing experts who will be in charge of the sale of unsold land and homes to resolve the unsold sales when the former president is in office.” Considering this, he tried to become a professional permanent contract worker, but the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the SH Corporation board of directors did not approve the increase for the conversion of unsold housing and land to the position. “

Candidate Byun added: “It was not against their conversion to arms contractors, but they secured the number of office workers (permanent contract workers) through active consultations with related organizations such as the Seoul Metropolitan Government.”

[연합뉴스]

Copyright ⓒ Yonhap News. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited