hankyoreh

Kim Jin-kook, the Blue House senior presidential secretary for civil affairs (Hankyoreh archive photo)

The 31-year-old son of Blue House Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim Jin-kook wrote on job applications to several companies recently that he could provide “a lot of assistance” due to his father’s senior position in the government, it has been learned.

According to an MBC report and Hankyoreh investigation Monday, Kim’s son submitted a job application to a consulting company last week in which he wrote, “My father is Kim Jin-kook, the current senior presidential secretary for civil affairs” in the section concerning his upbringing and experiences of growth.

In another section on his academic background, he wrote, “My father will provide a lot of assistance.” In an additional section for him to list personal strengths and weaknesses, he wrote, “I will talk to my father about realizing this company’s dreams.”

In a section for work history, he wrote, “Trust me and contact me. I am not lying.” In a section meant to list reasons for applying and ambitions, he wrote, “Help me spread my wings with your company.”

The responses on the application showed the younger Kim mentioning only that his father was the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, without including any details about himself.

For his academic experience, Kim wrote that he had graduated from the College of Martial Arts at Yong In University. In fact, reports indicated that while he was admitted to the university in 2012, he did not graduate, transferring to another school before eventually dropping out.

Kim was found to have submitted similar job applications to five companies, all of which responded to him.

Explaining his actions in an MBC report, Kim said, “I acted foolishly and rashly because I really wanted a job.”

“I retrieved all of the CVs that I had submitted, and I did not go for interviews,” he added.

His father Kim Jin-kook was quoted as saying that his son had “undergone treatment for anxiety and compulsive behavior.”

“[What he did] is unacceptable. There is nothing I can offer as an excuse, and I sincerely apologize,” he reportedly said.

During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, Kim served as a legal affairs secretary for the Blue House’s Office of the President between 2005 and 2007, during which time he got to know current President Moon Jae-in, who was then the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs.

Kim was a member of Roh’s legal team while the former president was being investigated by prosecutors after leaving office. After Moon took office, Kim served at the Board of Audit and Inspection before being appointed last March to succeed Shin Hyun-soo as senior secretary to the president for civil affairs.

By Lee Wan, staff reporter

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