Prosecutors Request Arrest Warrant for Gyeongbuk Superintendent Lim Jong-sik on Charges of Accepting Tens of Millions in Bribes (Comprehensive)

Two Current and Former Executive Officers Also Subject to Warrants

On the 20th, the Pohang branch of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office filed an arrest warrant for Im Jong-sik (68), the Superintendent of Education for Gyeongbuk Province, on charges including bribery. The warrant hearing for Superintendent Im is scheduled to be held at 11 a.m. on the 22nd at the Pohang branch of the Daegu District Court.

It is also known that the prosecution filed arrest warrants for two other individuals, including a former senior official and a current senior official of the Gyeongbuk Office of Education, in addition to Superintendent Im.

Lim Jong-sik, Superintendent of Gyeongbuk Education

Superintendent Im is accused of mobilizing education officials and others for election campaigning during the 2018 local elections and receiving tens of millions of won shortly after his election. A prosecution official stated, "It is true that the warrant was filed, but we cannot disclose detailed charges."

The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency has reportedly been investigating Superintendent Im since February of last year on charges including bribery. After confirming the charges against three individuals, including Superintendent Im, through searches and seizures, the police transferred the case to the Pohang branch of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office, considering that the bribery incidents occurred in Pohang.

Superintendent Im worked as a frontline teacher in the Gyeongbuk region before serving as the head of the Teacher Support Division and Director of the Education Policy Bureau at the Gyeongbuk Office of Education. He was elected Superintendent of Education for Gyeongbuk in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022, currently serving his second term.