Alleged Intervention in Hiring High School Classmate as Inspector General... Prosecution Requests Arrest Warrant for Gwangju Superintendent Lee Jeongseon

Pretrial Detention Hearing Scheduled for December 11

The prosecution has requested a pretrial detention warrant for Lee Jeongseon, Superintendent of Education for Gwangju, who is suspected of intervening in the hiring of a high school classmate as the city education office’s inspector general.

Yonhap News Agency

According to legal sources on December 10, the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Investigation Division of the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office, headed by Chief Prosecutor Kim Jinyong, has applied for a pretrial detention warrant for Superintendent Lee, who has been booked on charges including abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights. Prosecutors believe that Superintendent Lee intervened in the hiring process in 2022 to ensure his high school classmate was ultimately selected for the inspector general position.

A pretrial detention hearing for Superintendent Lee is scheduled to take place at the Gwangju District Court on the morning of December 11. After conducting a search and seizure of the city education office in March and questioning multiple related parties as witnesses, the prosecution recently summoned and questioned Superintendent Lee as a suspect.

Superintendent Lee’s legal team has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, arguing that the prosecution belatedly began its investigation into a case that the police had already closed without charges in September of last year. The legal team stated, "The legitimacy of the prosecution’s investigation will be determined by the Supreme Court," and expressed regret regarding the procedure and timing. The prosecution responded that the investigation is being conducted in accordance with due process.

A section chief (team leader level) who was in charge of the hiring process in 2022 was indicted on charges including obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means for allegedly requesting changes to interview evaluation scores and was sentenced to one year and six months in prison in the first trial.