An employee of an Incheon International Airport subsidiary was caught by security while attempting to smuggle out lost property found in a departure hall restroom. After evading disciplinary action by resigning, the employee managed to re-enter the company through re-employment, a case audit has revealed.

According to data submitted to Representative Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea on the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee by Incheon International Airport Corp. on the 24th, employee A of Incheon Airport Operational Services, a subsidiary of the corporation, was caught by security on March 28, 2024, leaving work with three cartons of cigarettes found in a duty-free area restroom on the third floor of Incheon Airport.

Although the incident was officially reported to the audit department on April 9 of the same year, employee A voluntarily resigned before an audit plan could be established. Consequently, disciplinary procedures were not pursued, leaving no record of punishment. Under the company regulations at the time, voluntary retirement was restricted only for employees currently undergoing investigation or inquiry related to misconduct. Therefore, even when misconduct was immediately caught, employees were not subject to restrictions on resignation prior to a formal investigation.

One year and two months after resigning, employee A was re-hired as a new employee at the same company in June of last year. Employee A did not list past work experience on the application form, and the human resources team also failed to verify employee A's previous employment history.

The company only discovered employee A's past misconduct after the re-employment. Following legal advice confirming that disciplinary authority remained valid, a specific audit was conducted, and a delayed disciplinary action of a 6-month salary reduction was issued in December of last year. However, even after vulnerabilities in HR management were exposed during employee A's re-employment process, the related regulations remained unchanged for over a year.

Prompted by criticism pointing out the need for system improvements, the company has made partial changes by adding an audit department verification step to the resignation process, and plans to review measures restricting voluntary retirement from the moment misconduct is recognized.

In addition to employee A, other cases of misconduct among employees of Incheon Airport Operational Services were revealed, including an employee who attempted to embezzle about 6 million won in foreign currency found at the airport resulting in dismissal, and another who received a salary reduction for attempting to smuggle out red ginseng.

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