“The charges are coming from a source of evil intentions [involving] personal vendetta against the corporation,” Park, Yong Nam, president of LISS, told the Variety in an e-mail yesterday.
Park said “the ravenous claims provide an exponential opportunity for those seeking a quick dime.”
He said it is “without delight that they face these challenges and have wasted time and money to counter the acts of individuals who wish to gain profit…at the expense of others.”
Park said it is easy to admit if the school is at fault, but hard to admit when you are not in fault.
“I believe that the justice system should take its course, and as the president of the corporation, I am determined to stand for the truth,” he said.
He added that the complainants in the cases “failed to state in their complaints their actions toward the company, its property, its staff, its clientele, and its integrity.”
He said his establishment has been doing business in the CNMI for five years now and intends to stay here.
“When reading about the cases against the corporation, one must always look at both sides of the story and look at it not on a one-sided approach,” he added.
Variety was told that three separate cases were filed against the school — in federal court, with the Department of Labor and in Superior Court.
On Friday last week, Kim, Hyun Suk filed a complaint in federal court against ILC Corp., owner of LISS, ILC and LISS president Park, and ILC Corp. vice president and LISS administrator Sun Yun Kim, for human trafficking, unpaid minimum wage and overtime compensation, and fraud.
Kim, through attorney Loren Sutton, asked the federal court for a jury trial.
The plaintiff wants the defendants to pay him $600,000 in damages.
Kim said he came to Saipan as a “tourist” on Dec. 20, 2005 and worked for the school without a labor contract.
Kim said he worked for entire 21 months but was paid only $900.
He was told that he would not be allowed to leave because of visa issues.
He said he returned to Korea because he was not able to tolerate the poor treatment he was getting from LISS.
Sutton said his client was “brought to Saipan under false pretenses because he was not a teacher and did not claim to have teaching experience.”
