Lee Jungseon, Superintendent of Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, is coming out after the pre-arrest defendant interrogation (warrant review) held at Gwangju District Court in Dong-gu, Gwangju on the morning of the 11th. Photo by Yonhap News
Lee Jungseon, Superintendent of Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, has been brought to trial on charges of exerting undue pressure to hire his high school classmate as the auditor of the city’s education office.
The Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division of the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office (headed by Chief Prosecutor Kim Jinyong) indicted Superintendent Lee without detention on December 31 on charges including abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights.
Superintendent Lee is accused of giving unfair instructions during the 2022 hiring process for the auditor of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education to ensure that a specific candidate, his high school classmate, would be included among the final two candidates for appointment.
At the time, Lee’s high school classmate’s interview scores were altered, changing the ranking and resulting in the candidate being included among the final two and subsequently appointed as the city education office auditor.
Superintendent Lee is also accused of intervening in the performance evaluations of grade 5 managers, who are team leaders at the city education office. This case was triggered by suspicions raised by teachers’ organizations and others.
The case was initially closed by police in September last year with a decision not to refer the case for prosecution (no charges), but prosecutors launched a direct investigation in March this year by executing a search and seizure warrant against Superintendent Lee.
On the 10th of this month, prosecutors also requested a pretrial detention warrant for Superintendent Lee, but the court rejected the request.
Superintendent Lee’s side has argued that the prosecution’s investigation was unlawful, filing both an immediate complaint and an appeal in succession. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the legality of the prosecution’s investigative procedures, including the execution of the search and seizure warrant.
On this day, Superintendent Lee released a statement claiming, “The indictment is merely an extension of the abuse of prosecutorial power, as evidenced by the dismissal of the detention warrant, the ‘tailored investigation,’ ‘illegal ex officio investigation,’ and ‘separate case investigation.’”
He further criticized, “Reviving a matter already settled by police investigation and forcibly requesting a warrant during the election period is a clear case of election interference and a typical act of political prosecution.”
Superintendent Lee emphasized, “Excessive investigation and indictment against the head of public education will leave scars on the educational field and the citizens. Those responsible must be held fully accountable.”
The head of the human resources team at the city education office, who handled the practical aspects of the 2022 auditor recruitment, was also brought to trial on charges of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means for instructing evaluators to alter interview scores and rankings among candidates. In a recent second trial, the official was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years.
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