Former National Election Commission Secretary-General Kim Se-hwan, who was indicted on charges of having his son hired as an employee of the election commission and giving him preferential treatment, was sentenced to prison.
On the 16th, the 12th criminal division of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Shin Sang-ryeol) held a sentencing hearing and sentenced the former secretary-general Kim to two years in prison on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of exercise of rights and violation of the State Public Officials Act.
The court did not take the former secretary-general Kim into custody in court, saying there did not appear to be a risk of destroying evidence or fleeing.
The court said, "The social promise that equal opportunities are given to everyone and that laws and principles are applied equally is the minimum foundation that supports our society," and added, "Public officials must maintain stricter fairness and transparency than anyone else in the public authority entrusted by the people."
It continued, "As a senior public official of the election commission, the defendant forgot the duties of the post and abused authority across the board, including career hiring and providing official housing for the son, making subordinates do duties they were not obliged to perform," and explained the sentencing reasons by saying, "Not only that, there was also undue influence regarding the national civil service exam."
It added, "This broke the principle of fairness that effort can be rewarded and gave a sense of loss and helplessness to the public, including the younger generation who would have tried to enter public service through ability and effort."
The former secretary-general Kim was brought to trial on charges including exerting influence in Nov. 2019 to have his son hired as an eighth-grade public official at the Ganghwa County Election Commission under the Incheon City Election Commission.
He was also charged with transferring his son to the Incheon City election commission secretariat after one year and, in violation of the law, having official housing provided, as well as having rent paid on his behalf.
The former secretary-general Kim's son worked at the Ganghwa County Office and then moved to the election commission through competitive hiring for career public officials.
At the time, when he was the deputy secretary-general of the National Election Commission, the former secretary-general Kim was found to have selected as interviewers people with whom he had close ties and to have called before the interview to inform them that his son would be taking the exam.