On April 5, Presiding Judge Kang Seong-jin of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 16 said he sentenced former Shinhan Card vice president A to six months in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of obstructing business.
According to prosecutors, A served as head of Shinhan Card’s Management Support Division, which oversaw the HR team, from 2013 to 2017.
In May 2016, B, president of affiliate Shinhan Capital, asked A to “take a good look” because his daughter had applied. When A learned that B’s daughter had failed the first-round practical interview, he instructed that she be given another chance. An HR team assistant then altered her interview ranking from eighth to fourth.
Prosecutors found that A created the false impression for second-round interviewers that B’s daughter had passed the first round. Based on that misconception, the interviewers advanced her in the second round, and she ultimately received final acceptance.
Prosecutors charged A with using deception to obstruct the duties of the second-round interviewers and Shinhan Card’s hiring process.
The court found A guilty. The judges said, “Hiring corruption driven by personal favors results in the recruitment of people whose abilities do not match the company’s needs. It runs counter to corporate interests and ultimately causes harm.”
The judges added that the practice unjustly deprives young job seekers—who depend on merit and hard work—of opportunities, inflicting deep disappointment and discouragement and undermining a fair society where effort and ability determine outcomes.
They ruled that, as a vice president of a large financial firm, A granted an applicant an unfair advantage for a personal favor and therefore warranted proportionate punishment.
A has appealed the verdict.
