'Kwak promised to pay off dropped candidate’

Prosecution secures statements from professor on agreed financial compensation

Public prosecutors investigating election corruption involving Seoul’s education chief Kwak No-hyun said Monday they had secured statements that Kwak had promised to pay off a rival candidate during last year’s election campaign.

According to sources at the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office, which leads the probe, Park Myoung-gee had initially asked for 700 million won from Kwak’s camp to drop out of the race, but ended up getting just 200 million won.

The prosecution imposed an overseas travel ban on Kwak on Sunday and plans to summon him for questioning in the coming days, the sources said.

The move comes after the top educator admitted Sunday to giving 200 million won to Park, professor of Seoul National University of Education who pulled out of the race about two weeks before the vote in June 2010.

Park’s withdrawal left Kwak the sole candidate representing the liberal opposition against six conservative candidates. Kwak won the election to become Seoul’s first elected education chief from the liberal opposition.

“After taking office, I learned about the dire conditions professor Park was in. I provided financial support to him out of goodwill, because I could not turn a blind eye to him,” the superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education told a press conference.

Investigators suspect that Park and Kwak’s camp made a verbal agreement regarding monetary compensation before Park gave up his candidacy.

Park is thought to have spent nearly 600 million won on campaigning before he dropped out.

Investigators have secured documents that they say may be used as evidence through a search of the homes of Park and his brother, through whom Kwak remitted the money to Park. They are seeking a court permission to formally arrest Park, after taking him into custody Friday.

The prosecutors are also looking into the appointment of Park last June as an advisor to the Seoul education office to see if it was another form of kickback for his withdrawal from the election.

Kwak, since taking office in July last year, has pushed for a series of left-leaning reforms, often clashing with the conservative municipal and central governments.

Just last week, he won a key ballot battle with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and the ruling Grand National Party over how far to expand free school meals. Kwak pushed for a program to provide free lunches to all elementary and middle school students, while Oh and the GNP insisted on giving them only to children from families with below average incomes.

On his way to work Monday, the superintendent was quizzed by journalists but kept mum on his course of action, resisting mounting pressure from political parties and even liberals to resign immediately.

He kept to his usual schedule, an official at the education office said, and told his staff to work as normal “despite difficulties.” 



By Lee Sun-young
(milaya@heraldcorp.com)