Korean Air rejects watchdog`s request to end gender discrimination

(ATTN: CORRECTS time element in para 2)
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's largest airline,
rejected a recommendation from the country's rights watchdog that it drop a
"sexually discriminatory" hiring policy, calling the recommendation an
infringement of managerial discretion, according to the watchdog Friday.
In late 2008, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) advised Korean Air to
correct its policy of hiring only females as flight attendants in open
recruitments.
The company has been internally filling male positions with employees from other
divisions since it dropped male cabin crew recruitment in 1997.
Korean Air, which also partially fills positions for female flight crew members
internally, holds regular and open recruitment sessions solely for female
applicants.
The NHRC said that the company delivered a response saying that it won't accept
the recommendation and that its policy is not discriminatory, but rather based on
"strategic decisions" meant to strengthen the company's competitiveness.
Asiana Airlines, the nation's No. 2 air carrier, repealed a similar recruitment
policy in 2008.
The NHRC said it again urged the company to revise the policy on the grounds that
customer service jobs are not exclusive to females and that most domestic and
foreign competitors do not have gender restrictions on job positions.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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