Prosecutors seek arrest warrant for Kwak

After two days of interrogation, prosecutors sought warrant to arrest Kwak No-hyun, Seoul’s education superintendent, Wednesday on allegations that he bought a rival candidate out of last year’s election.

Investigators at the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office were said to have reached a conclusion that the 200 million won ($187,000) that Kwak paid Park Myoung-gee, the withdrawn candidate who is already under arrest, was in return for Park’s departure in support of Kwak.

They allege that Park’s appointment in June this year as an advisor to the education office was also a kind of kickback.

They believe that Kwak and Park had a deal through their aides that Kwak would provide Park with money and a job if he pulled out.

Kwak, however, delayed paying Park for months after the election, which led to an ugly quarrel, the prosecutors and Park claim.

Kwak said that the aide was not authorized to make such a deal and that he only learnt about the deal months after the election. He also argues that the 200 million won was not a bribe and that he just wanted to help out Park, who he thought was suicidal under mounting debts from the election campaign.

The local election law prohibits any provision of benefits, be it money or a job, to a candidate in exchange for his or her giving up of the race.

A breach of the rule is punishable by imprisonment of up to 7 years and fines of 5 million won to 30 million won.

During the second-day interrogation, prosecutors confronted Kwak with a stack of IOUs they had found at Park’s, which they believe was written in order to disguise a bribe as a loan.

The embattled educator, again, claimed no knowledge of it.

The IOUs were under the names of Kang Gyeong-sun, a friend of Kwak, and a brother of Park.

Kang, a professor of Korea National Open University, wired the 200 million won on behalf of Kwak to bank accounts of Park’s brother in four installments between February and March this year.

The prosecutors were tracking bank accounts of Kwak, trying to determine the source of 100 million won, which he said he had borrowed from acquaintances.

Kwak, a former law professor, has said that he would fight to clear his name. “What was a gesture of pure goodwill has been painted as a crime,” the superintendent said.

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