South Korean court overturns NEC hiring cancellation for former official's daughter

A South Korean court has ruled that the National Election Commission (NEC) acted unlawfully when it canceled the employment of the daughter of former NEC Secretary-General Park Chan-jin. The ruling by the Seoul Administrative Court found that there was insufficient evidence to prove fraudulent scoring or improper influence during the 2022 recruitment process.

The controversy, often referred to as the ‘father chance’ allegation, stemmed from an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection. The audit suggested that interview scores might have been manipulated by staff and that interviewers were provided with candidate information, such as age, in advance. The NEC had used these findings to justify canceling the daughter's appointment.

However, the court noted that while there were irregular administrative procedures, there was no concrete evidence of false reporting or direct instructions from Park Chan-jin to interfere with the process. The court also stated that even if administrative irregularities occurred, the public interest did not justify specifically targeting and canceling this individual's employment based on unclear allegations of misconduct.