Seoul education chief fined over election bribery

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- Kwak No-hyun, the suspended Seoul education chief, was fined 30 million won (US$26,399) on Thursday for bribing a rival candidate to drop out of the 2010 election for the capital's education superintendent seat. The Seoul Central District Court delivered the sentence to the liberal educator for violating the local election and education governance laws. With the ruling, Kwak will immediately be released and serve as the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education until a further ruling by higher courts. Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison sentence for him. Kwak was arrested and suspended from his duties in early September last year and the court dismissed his bail application the following month. The suspended education chief was indicted on Sept. 21 on charges of giving 200 million won to Park Myoung-gee, a rival candidate from the same liberal block, in return for quitting the race in June 2010. Park, a professor at the Seoul National University of Education, withdrew his election bid just a few days before the election, which supposedly helped consolidate liberal voters' support for Kwak to win the race. In sentencing, Judge Kim Hyung-du dismissed Kwak's claim the money was a gesture of "good will" for Park, who incurred substantial debts from his unsuccessful election campaign, not a reward for his rival's withdrawal. "The amount of money given to Park was so large it cannot just be dismissed as a free gift for good will," the judge said. The court, however, rejected prosecutors' charges that Kwak initiated the financial transaction to get Park to drop out of the race or that he offered Park a position as a Seoul city education adviser. Only after winning the election did Kwak become aware of the deal arranged between his aides and Park, the judge said, explaining his milder-than-expected sentence for the superintendent. In the same ruling, Park was sentenced to three years behind bars for actively seeking financial reward for his withdrawal, which the judge said seriously impaired election fairness and the public trust. (END)