Two Incheon City Council Members Arrested for 'Electronic Blackboard Supply Corruption'... "Risk of Flight and Evidence Tampering"

Two current Incheon city council members were arrested on charges of accepting bribes from company officials during the process of promoting an electronic blackboard supply project.

The Anti-Corruption Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency arrested Incheon City Council members Cho Hyun-young (50) and Shin Chung-sik (51) on the 28th on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. The police also arrested CEO A, one of three electronic blackboard supply company officials, on charges of giving bribes.

Choi Sang-soo, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Incheon District Court, conducted a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review) for them the day before and issued the warrants, stating there was "a risk of flight or evidence destruction."

However, warrants were denied for two other company officials, citing reasons such as "it is difficult to recognize grounds for detention considering the degree of involvement in the crime and the progress of the investigation" or "there is no risk of flight or evidence destruction."

In connection with the electronic blackboard supply business, Incheon City Council members Cho Hyun-young (left) and Shin Chung-sik are entering the Incheon District Court on the afternoon of the 27th to undergo a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review). 2025.3.27 Yonhap News Photo by Yonhap

When Councilman Cho appeared at the warrant review hearing, he denied the charges, responding "No" to reporters' questions asking if he admitted to receiving money, while Councilman Shin did not respond at all.

These city council members are suspected of receiving money and valuables from CEO A and other company officials in connection with the school electronic blackboard project promoted by the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education from late 2022 to early last year. According to police investigations, the company helped supply electronic blackboards they manufactured to schools and received about 20% of the supply amount as a rebate.

The police have investigated the electronic blackboard supply corruption case and booked a total of nine people, recently applying for pre-arrest warrants for five of them, including Councilmen Cho and Shin.