ID :
208559
Wed, 09/21/2011 - 12:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/208559
The shortlink copeid
Seoul education chief indicted on election bribery charges
SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors indicted on Wednesday the Seoul education chief on charges of bribing his rival candidate to win the public post, bringing the election irregularity case against the high-profile official to court.
Kwak No-hyun, the elected superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is suspected of giving 200 million won (US$173,761) to Park Myoung-gee, a rival candidate from the same liberal bloc, to get him to drop out of the race for the post in June last year.
Kwak has also allegedly offered Park, professor from the Seoul National University of Education, a position as a Seoul city education advisor in return for his withdrawal, a violation of the local election and education governance laws.
The indictment immediately led to the suspension of Kwak's duties as the education chief, and Im Seung-bin, the vice superintendent, took over as the acting superintendent.
Kwak, if convicted, will be punished with an imprisonment of less than seven years or a fine of at least 5 million won and stripped of his post.
Along with the official, prosecutors also indicted Kang Kyung-sun, a professor at Korea National Open University and Kwak's close friend, on charges of assisting the superintendent in the secret financial transaction.
After being arrested in early September, Kwak had consistently denied the charges and reiterated his previous stance that the money was not a reward for Park's withdrawal. The indicted superintendent insisted he gave the money earlier this year as a gesture of "goodwill" for the rival candidate, who incurred substantial debts from his election campaign.
Park was also indicted by prosecutors earlier in September on charges of taking the money, which prosecutors say was promised to him in return for quitting the race. The professor also denied the accusation through a press interview.
The prosecution is pushing the case against Kwak on grounds that the provision of the funds is correlated with Park's last-minute withdrawal, which came only two weeks ahead of election day.
"The latest case clearly showed how a secret financial deal made in an effort to remove one candidate (from the same political group) could seriously alter the outcome of an election," a prosecution official said, refusing to be named. The prosecution will crack down on election irregularities in the run-up to next month's by-election to pick local administrative chiefs and the presidential and general elections next year, he said.
The latest indictment of a superintendent from the liberal opposition side came as a heavy blow to the progressive bloc as they push to adopt a range of education welfare policies.
In a parliamentary audit on Tuesday, Park Jie-won from the main opposition Democratic Party lashed out at the Seoul Central District Court, saying the court's approval of an arrest warrant for Kwak was politically motivated.
The interrogation of Kwak came during the same week in August when Oh Se-hoon, the former Seoul mayor from the ruling Grand National Party, failed to block the opposition-controlled Seoul council's costly free school lunch program. Oh stepped down the following week, holding himself accountable for the referendum defeat.
Kwak No-hyun, the elected superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is suspected of giving 200 million won (US$173,761) to Park Myoung-gee, a rival candidate from the same liberal bloc, to get him to drop out of the race for the post in June last year.
Kwak has also allegedly offered Park, professor from the Seoul National University of Education, a position as a Seoul city education advisor in return for his withdrawal, a violation of the local election and education governance laws.
The indictment immediately led to the suspension of Kwak's duties as the education chief, and Im Seung-bin, the vice superintendent, took over as the acting superintendent.
Kwak, if convicted, will be punished with an imprisonment of less than seven years or a fine of at least 5 million won and stripped of his post.
Along with the official, prosecutors also indicted Kang Kyung-sun, a professor at Korea National Open University and Kwak's close friend, on charges of assisting the superintendent in the secret financial transaction.
After being arrested in early September, Kwak had consistently denied the charges and reiterated his previous stance that the money was not a reward for Park's withdrawal. The indicted superintendent insisted he gave the money earlier this year as a gesture of "goodwill" for the rival candidate, who incurred substantial debts from his election campaign.
Park was also indicted by prosecutors earlier in September on charges of taking the money, which prosecutors say was promised to him in return for quitting the race. The professor also denied the accusation through a press interview.
The prosecution is pushing the case against Kwak on grounds that the provision of the funds is correlated with Park's last-minute withdrawal, which came only two weeks ahead of election day.
"The latest case clearly showed how a secret financial deal made in an effort to remove one candidate (from the same political group) could seriously alter the outcome of an election," a prosecution official said, refusing to be named. The prosecution will crack down on election irregularities in the run-up to next month's by-election to pick local administrative chiefs and the presidential and general elections next year, he said.
The latest indictment of a superintendent from the liberal opposition side came as a heavy blow to the progressive bloc as they push to adopt a range of education welfare policies.
In a parliamentary audit on Tuesday, Park Jie-won from the main opposition Democratic Party lashed out at the Seoul Central District Court, saying the court's approval of an arrest warrant for Kwak was politically motivated.
The interrogation of Kwak came during the same week in August when Oh Se-hoon, the former Seoul mayor from the ruling Grand National Party, failed to block the opposition-controlled Seoul council's costly free school lunch program. Oh stepped down the following week, holding himself accountable for the referendum defeat.
