Multi-Million Won Bribery for Government Contracts... Gwangju Science Center Executives and Staff Indicted and Detained

Prosecutors Indict Eight, Including Company Officials and Brokers
"Organized Corruption... Strict Punishment for Structural Crimes"

Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office. Photo by Song Bohyun

Four employees of the National Gwangju Science Museum have been indicted and detained for receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions of won in exchange for awarding government contracts.

The Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division (Chief Prosecutor Cho Jungho) announced on the 24th that it had indicted and detained four employees of the National Gwangju Science Museum, including Mr. A, on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, among others.

According to the prosecution, from March 2020 to December 2023, Mr. A and others are accused of using their influence to help a particular company win government contracts commissioned by the Gwangju Science Museum, and receiving a total of 140 million won in bribes from companies and brokers.

Investigations revealed that they received bribes either directly as "personnel expenses" from the companies, or by taking a portion of the broker fees from those who arranged the contracts.

The prosecution also indicted four company officials who won the contracts by offering bribes, as well as four brokers who received fees in exchange for facilitating the deals. It was found that the brokers collected as much as 318 million won and as little as 7.2 million won per contract.

The prosecution began its investigation after receiving a report from the Ministry of Science and ICT in March last year, and uncovered that Mr. A and others had systematically received bribes over an extended period by abusing their positions. They also seized a total of 450 million won in criminal proceeds obtained by the employees and brokers.

A prosecution official stated, "We will strictly punish structural corruption crimes in the public sector," and added, "We will do our utmost to ensure the defendants receive punishment commensurate with their crimes."