ID :
204812
Thu, 09/01/2011 - 17:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/204812
The shortlink copeid
Scandal-tainted Seoul education chief refuses to quit ahead of summons
(ATTN: CLARIFIES 5th para)
SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors are stepping up efforts to secure evidence of election law violations by Seoul's disgraced education chief ahead of his summons expected over the weekend, prosecution sources said Thursday.
Kwak No-hyun, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, refused to quit and vowed to fight to the end to prove his "innocence" in a public speech, faced with the widening investigation into allegations that he bribed a rival candidate to get him to withdraw from last year's election for the top education post in the capital.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office launched last month an investigation into allegations that Kwak gave Park Myoung-gee, a professor of Seoul National University of Education and rival candidate from the same liberal bloc, 200 million won (US$188,394) in return for Park's withdrawal from the election for the superintendent post last year.
Park was put under arrest last week on charges of violating the election law.
On Thursday, prosecutors summoned two of Kwak's close aides for questioning about the unification process in last year's race. The two were a professor at Seoul National University who led Kwak's election campaign in 2010 and Rev. Lee Hae-hak, who deliberated the unification process.
The summons came on the heels of prosecutors' questioning of Kwak's wife and her sisters a day earlier.
Prosecutors are widely believed to be mustering efforts to prove a link between the money and Park's withdrawal, which mainly led to Kwak's election victory.
The superintendent last week admitted to giving the money to Park, which he said was provided in a gesture of "goodwill" as his former competitor suffered heavy debts from his election campaign. Kwak strongly denied the suspicion that the money was given in return for Park's withdrawal.
Following further investigations, the prosecution plans to call in the Seoul education chief during the weekend or early next week.
Despite growing pressure from the prosecution, Kwak, formerly a law professor, asserted his innocence and determination to stay on as the Seoul education chief even amid growing calls by opponents to step down.
"I have already told the whole truth," Kwak said during a monthly speech to employees. "I will take on the duties as the education superintendent with a graver sense of responsibility and discretion."
Public opinion is sharply divided over the latest prosecution investigation into the liberal superintendent, which came straight after his referendum victory against Oh Se-hoon, the conservative Seoul mayor.
The mayor offered to resign last week after losing in the referendum he called to cancel a free school lunch plan, supported by the liberal superintendent and passed by the opposition-controlled city council.
The school meal plan, which caused major bickering between the ruling and opposition parties, is a key indication of intensifying welfare reform debates, widely expected to become the focal point of next year's presidential election.
SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors are stepping up efforts to secure evidence of election law violations by Seoul's disgraced education chief ahead of his summons expected over the weekend, prosecution sources said Thursday.
Kwak No-hyun, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, refused to quit and vowed to fight to the end to prove his "innocence" in a public speech, faced with the widening investigation into allegations that he bribed a rival candidate to get him to withdraw from last year's election for the top education post in the capital.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office launched last month an investigation into allegations that Kwak gave Park Myoung-gee, a professor of Seoul National University of Education and rival candidate from the same liberal bloc, 200 million won (US$188,394) in return for Park's withdrawal from the election for the superintendent post last year.
Park was put under arrest last week on charges of violating the election law.
On Thursday, prosecutors summoned two of Kwak's close aides for questioning about the unification process in last year's race. The two were a professor at Seoul National University who led Kwak's election campaign in 2010 and Rev. Lee Hae-hak, who deliberated the unification process.
The summons came on the heels of prosecutors' questioning of Kwak's wife and her sisters a day earlier.
Prosecutors are widely believed to be mustering efforts to prove a link between the money and Park's withdrawal, which mainly led to Kwak's election victory.
The superintendent last week admitted to giving the money to Park, which he said was provided in a gesture of "goodwill" as his former competitor suffered heavy debts from his election campaign. Kwak strongly denied the suspicion that the money was given in return for Park's withdrawal.
Following further investigations, the prosecution plans to call in the Seoul education chief during the weekend or early next week.
Despite growing pressure from the prosecution, Kwak, formerly a law professor, asserted his innocence and determination to stay on as the Seoul education chief even amid growing calls by opponents to step down.
"I have already told the whole truth," Kwak said during a monthly speech to employees. "I will take on the duties as the education superintendent with a graver sense of responsibility and discretion."
Public opinion is sharply divided over the latest prosecution investigation into the liberal superintendent, which came straight after his referendum victory against Oh Se-hoon, the conservative Seoul mayor.
The mayor offered to resign last week after losing in the referendum he called to cancel a free school lunch plan, supported by the liberal superintendent and passed by the opposition-controlled city council.
The school meal plan, which caused major bickering between the ruling and opposition parties, is a key indication of intensifying welfare reform debates, widely expected to become the focal point of next year's presidential election.
