Public official gets 10 years for bribery in Pyeongchang sewerage projects
The Chuncheon District Court in Gangwon Province also fined him 1 billion won ($710,000) and ordered the forfeiture of 350 million won. He was convicted of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
Two former subordinates received sentences of three years and two years and six months in prison, respectively. They were ordered to forfeit 40 million to 50 million won. The head of the construction company that paid the bribes was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, suspended for probation.
The court also sentenced a former Pyeongchang police officer to one year and six months in prison, suspended for probation, for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
Prosecutors said the former water office chief accepted 350 million won in bribes between 2018 and 2020, while his subordinate, sentenced to three years, received 44 million won between 2018 and 2019 from the company head. The other subordinate also received tens of millions of won in bribe.
The office head allegedly demanded 10 percent of construction fees in exchange for helping the company secure water and sewerage contracts worth 3.7 billion won.
The former police officer was found to have received 20 million won in exchange for leaking details about an investigation into a workplace accident involving a company employee.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
Public official gets 10 years for bribery in Pyeongchang sewerage projects
A former head of the Pyeongchang County Water and Sewerage Office was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for taking bribes related to county sewage system projects, according to local news reports. The Chuncheon District Court in Gangwon Province also fined him 1 billion won ($710,000) and ordered the forfeiture of 350 million won. He was convicted of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Two former subordinates received sentences of three years and two years and six months in prison, respectively. They were ordered to forfeit 40 million to 50 million won. The head of the construction company that paid the bribes was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, suspended for probation. The court also sentenced a former Pyeongchang police officer to one year and six months in prison, suspended for probation, for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. Prosecutors said the former water office chief accepted 350 million won in bribes between 2018 and 2020, while his subordinate, sentenced to three years, received 44 million won between 2018 and 2019 from the company head. The other subordinate also received tens of millions of won in bribe. The office head allegedly demanded 10 percent of construction fees in exchange for helping the company secure water and sewerage contracts worth 3.7 billion won. The former police officer was found to have received 20 million won in exchange for leaking details about an investigation into a workplace accident involving a company employee.
Korea Herald
6 days ago
- Korea Herald
Local builder searched over Van Cleef necklace allegedly given to Yoon's wife
Former first lady claims necklace is counterfeit, denies connection with Seohee A special counsel investigating allegations against former first lady Kim Keon Hee on Monday raided the headquarters of Seohee Construction as part of a probe into a possible quid pro quo involving a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace valued at 60 million won ($46,000). On Monday morning, the special counsel team -- led by Min Joong-ki -- searched the offices of Seohee Construction to look for evidence related to the claims involving Kim's luxury necklace and the company's potential violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. The suspicions relate to a time when the former first lady omitted the diamond necklace -- which she wore during a trip for a NATO summit in 2022 -- from the required disclosure of her assets. Public officials and their spouses are required to declare any jewelry worth more than 5 million won ($3,603) under the Public Service Ethics Act. The presidential office explained that the necklace had been 'borrowed from an acquaintance,' but Kim submitted a written statement to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in May, claiming that the necklace was a counterfeit and therefore not subject to the disclosure requirement for public officials. On Aug. 6, the former first lady reportedly testified during questioning by the special counsel that she had purchased the counterfeit 15 years ago at a market in Hong Kong and presented it to her mother as a gift without acknowledging that the necklace resembled a Van Cleef & Arpels design. Kim added that she borrowed it back from her mother for the overseas trip in 2022. The luxury necklace was found by investigators after raiding the house of Kim's brother's mother-in-law in late July. A forensic analysis confirmed that the necklace was an imitation. But since the necklace design worn by the former first lady was first released in November 2015, the special counsel suspected that Kim's testimony could be false and reportedly planned to emphasize concerns about evidence-tampering during Tuesday's hearing on whether to issue a detention warrant for Kim. Seohee Construction is suspected of attempting to influence Kim by giving her the luxury necklace in return for a relative of the company's chairman being appointed to a government position. The special counsel, which previously conducted a search and seizure operation at a local Van Cleef & Arpels store in July, obtained records showing that a close associate of Seohee Construction's chairman purchased a necklace of the same design shortly after the presidential election in March 2022. The team also discovered that the chairman's son-in-law was appointed as chief of staff to the prime minister in June 2022, just before then-President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim's overseas trip for the NATO summit. sj_lee@
Korea Herald
05-08-2025
- Korea Herald
South Korea hosts APEC's first ministerial-level dialogue on anti-corruption
South Korea held APEC's first ministerial-level dialogue on anti-corruption cooperation to discuss key drivers of sustainable governance to uphold a high standard of integrity. Seoul hailed the event as one positioning itself at the forefront of anti-corruption cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region last week. 'This meeting was a meaningful opportunity to lay the groundwork for practical anti-corruption cooperation within APEC and to strengthen the regional agenda,' Yu Chul-hwan, chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), said in a press briefing Monday. Held from July 30 to Friday in Incheon, the three-day event marked a turning point in APEC's anti-corruption agenda. While the APEC's Anti-Corruption and Transparency Experts' Working Group has operated since 2005, this was the first time that either ministerial-level or vice ministerial-level officials from 20 member economies gathered alongside representatives from global institutions such as the OECD, World Bank and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. According to Yu, the event centered around three pillars: enforcement, corporate compliance and education. In the first two sessions, participants from Chile, China, Interpol and the UNODC discussed cross-border cooperation in asset recovery and digital evidence sharing. Speakers from Korea, Indonesia, Russia, the OECD and Oracle explored how regulatory frameworks and digital solutions could reduce corruption risks in both public and private sectors. The third session, dedicated to education, spotlighted Korea's leading role in preventive policy. The ACRC shared initiatives, including mandatory annual training for over 2 million civil servants and curriculum partnerships with 18 domestic universities. One such example is Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, which began offering a for-credit anti-corruption course this March. Yu said that the ACRC also presented Korea's broader institutional reforms that led to the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act enacted in 2016, the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act introduced in 2022, and the Whistleblower Protection and Reward System, which has been operated by the commission since the early 2010s. 'We shared examples not just of enforcement, but of how to build a culture of integrity through prevention and participation,' said Yu, a ministerial-level figure. This emphasis on cultivating a broad-based commitment to integrity was echoed by ACRC Vice Chair Lee Myung-soon, who urged member economies to treat transparency as a prerequisite for sustainable growth when he opened the plenary session on Thursday 'It is no longer the sole responsibility of anti-corruption agencies. This is a shared responsibility across sectors and generations,' said Lee of ACRC. While the meeting concluded without a joint declaration, the ACRC confirmed that discussions are underway to include anti-corruption priorities in the APEC Leaders' Declaration, to be adopted at the APEC Summit in Gyeongju this October. In 2024, South Korea ranked 30th out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, marking its highest to date.
