Recent high-profile cases highlight that South Korea continues to face a crisis of false academic and professional credentials being used in the job market. The New York Times reported on false credentials in South Korea way back in 2007 when the Shin Jeong-ah scandal hit the headlines. Recently, the concerning examples of Cho Min in 2019 has brought the issue back into the limelight and demonstrates how prolific this fraudulent practice continues to be.
Due to the widespread nature of this issue in South Korea, let’s examine the context of the issue and consider what your company can do to help avoid hiring candidates based on false credentials.
Why is it so important for companies to identify false credentials during the hiring process?
According to the South Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance, “120,000 jobs are expected to be created in 2025. While the increase in employment will be smaller compared to 2024 due to a larger decrease in the working-age population, the employment rate is expected to continue rising to 62.8%.” Due to this influx of new jobs and the fact that global companies find South Korea an attractive place for hiring, there is a clear need for companies to effectively filter out false credentials from the recruitment pool. Vetting and disqualifying candidates who use false credentials provides several benefits for the hiring company.
First, it ensures that your company is hiring candidates who genuinely have the experience and qualifications that they claim. This provides significant long-term value to your company, adding an employee able to fulfil the role for which they were hired.
Second, it enables companies to avoid the time and cost of conducting repeat recruitment processes when it’s discovered that the initial selected candidate relied on inaccurate credentials. The end-to-end recruitment process can be lengthy and complex for HR teams; hence it’s important to get the recruitment process right from the outset.
Finally, hiring a person based on false credentials can negatively impact your company’s reputation, particularly when your company is looked upon as a trusted organisation.
What should companies avoid during the hiring process?
By avoiding these three actions during the hiring process, organizations can better their chances to minimise the risk of hiring an applicant with fraudulent credentials.
1. Blind reference checks
A common practice in South Korea is a ‘blind reference check’ – also known as an off-list reference check. These background checks are conducted without the candidate’s knowledge.
Blind reference checks may also generally be unhelpful due to the high value placed on privacy in South Korean culture, which often results in past employers being “noncommittal to say anything negative about a past employee”.
Instead, it’s suggested that companies provide the candidate with information about the reference check and allow them to consent to the enquiries, ideally in written form. This makes for a more transparent and compliant process for all parties involved.
2. Collecting irrelevant candidate information
Another action to avoid is collecting either unnecessary or superfluous information about candidates.
Collecting too much information can cloud the judgment of the hiring team. It may make the recruitment process longer or more complicated than it needs to be, or it may mean that the hiring decision is based on information that’s not central to the role.
What can companies do to mitigate the risk of hiring candidates with false credentials?
Background verification helps to validate candidates’ credentials by checking each candidate’s claims against objective facts such as educational records, or employment records. Depending on the role, the following background checks are considered best practice in South Korea:
- Education checks for any professional roles
- Employment checks for all roles
- Professional qualification checks for any professional roles
- Credit checks for financial or executive roles
- Expanded global sanctions checks for executive or director roles
- Media checks for executive or director roles
Whilst background verification is not historically a common practice in South Korea, the scourge of false credentials in the hiring market has meant that this precaution is now considered a sensible and even integral practice to undertake before hiring new employees.
As a result, many companies are now conducting reference checks as a minimum. A survey conducted by Career, an online job portal, found that almost 50% of the 310 local employers surveyed conducted reference checks before making recruitment decisions.
How can companies ensure they conduct background verification in a legally compliant manner?
Reference checks and background checks are permitted in South Korea but are strictly regulated under the Personal Information Protection Act (‘the Act’) and the guidelines issued by the Personal Information Protection Commission (‘the guidelines’).
Both the Act and the guidelines indicate that it’s crucial for employers to obtain written consent when seeking to conduct any background checks or verification. According to Article 15(1) of the Act, a company “may collect personal information… where consent is obtained from a data subject.” Furthermore, according to Article 23(1) of the Act, separate consent must be obtained whenever any sensitive information is being collected.
Should companies conduct background verifications themselves, or work with a vendor?
Due to the complex regulatory landscape relating to background verification in South Korea, it is always best that companies partner with an experienced and reliable background verification provider.
Third-party providers have specialised expertise in conducting legally compliant background checks in South Korea. Their localized knowledge will help your company mitigate its risk of conducting illegal background checks and/or improper hiring practices.
If you’re hiring in South Korea and want to help avoid hiring candidates using false credentials, partner with First Advantage for quick and accurate background verification. Get started today.
