It has come to light that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade brought Minister Yu Myung-hwan's daughter in as a "special hire" in its foreign affairs department. The brazenness of it is simply astonishing, hiring the minister's daughter and having her be the only such hire at that. While the country suffers the pains of youth unemployment everywhere else, a major government ministry is hard at work hiring the minister's daughter in a move that can only be called outrageous.

Yu would belatedly apologize and announce his intention to revoke his daughter's selection, but that is not enough to put this to bed. To begin with, his attitude is not appropriate, indicating as it does that there was nothing wrong with the hiring process and that the issue arose from a misunderstanding. If one looks into the process behind this special hire, there are more than a few suspicious areas. The very fact that all other applicants were eliminated during the first recruitment stage smacks strongly of a measure taken to favor Yu's daughter, who did not meet the English test certification requirement. And it would be stranger for the high-level ministry officials involved in hiring Ms. Yu not to give her a high score. Some have even alleged that Yu planted his daughter in the Foreign Ministry during his term as minister in preparation for a potential switching out once the G-20 summit is over. This is something that requires a thorough investigation.

Yu has already stirred up controversy on a number of occasions with his reckless remarks, such as when he said that young people who supported the opposition "should go North and live with the Dear Leader [Kim Jong-il]." And it has been clearly shown that his ministry is incapable of serving as an overall foreign affairs control tower, as evidenced by the fact that South Korea finds itself at the edge of a cliff overall in its foreign affairs. It is absurd that someone who should have stepped down long ago has continued holding out all this time. Now that he has brought yet more shame upon himself with this episode, one has to ask how he can even show his face in front of diplomatic officials from other countries. He should resign immediately.

What this latest furor clearly shows is that the government's talk about a "fair society" is mere rhetoric, and that the reality is one in which the passing down of status and wealth through the generations is solidifying its place. At the moment, the government's plan for reorganizing the civil service examination to increase the percentage of special hires for Level 5 public servants to 50 percent is becoming an item of concern. After all, this recent business has shown how expanding special hires can transform into a channel for exercising favoritism in appointments and offering special privileges to children of the upper class. It is not without reason that some in the working class are grumbling about how the age has passed for children from poor families to succeed through diligent study. Before supplying us with a banquet of talk about "equality of opportunity" and "concern for the disadvantaged," Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) should first deal sternly with Yu Myung-hwan's actions.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]