[Breaking News] Superintendent Jo Hee-yeon Sentenced to Suspended Prison Term in 2nd Trial for 'Unfair Hiring'

Cho Hee-yeon, the Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who was prosecuted on charges of unfair special hiring of dismissed teachers, was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the second trial as well. Under current law, a superintendent loses their position if sentenced to imprisonment without prison labor or higher.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial on suspicion of unfairly specially hiring dismissed teachers, is attending the appellate sentencing hearing held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 18th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Kim Woo-soo, Kim Jin-ha, and Lee In-soo) upheld the first trial's judgment on the 18th, sentencing Superintendent Cho to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension for charges including abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights and violation of the National Public Service Act.

Superintendent Cho was prosecuted on charges of abuse of authority for giving improper instructions to officials to specially hire five dismissed teachers from the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Jeon-gyo-jo), whose conviction for election law violations was confirmed between October and December 2018.

He is also accused of violating the National Public Service Act by conducting the hiring process under the guise of an open competitive exam while having preselected these individuals, and by conveying to some examiners the intention to award high scores to specific candidates.

This case was transferred from the police to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), marking the first investigation conducted by the CIO since its establishment. After about four months of investigation, the CIO referred the case to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment, and the prosecution reached the same conclusion, indicting Superintendent Cho without detention at the end of the same year.