Police chief nominee was pardoned for drunk driving

Police said Sunday that the National Police Agency chief nominee Lee Chul-sung was pardoned in a presidential amnesty in 1995 for a drunk driving offense, responding to growing allegations about his ethical standards.

The agency’s deputy chief Lee has been grilled over his drunk driving history and attempt to hide his identity as a police officer at the time of the accident. He is to succeed retiring NPA chief Kang Sin-myeong, who steps down Monday. 

According to the NPA, Lee was found guilty of violating the Road Traffic Act after driving home under the influence of alcohol and causing an accident in 1993, when he was inspector at the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency. He was fined 1 million won.

Lee admitted during a parliamentary hearing that he had failed to disclose his occupation out of shame when he was caught driving under the influence, which supposedly helped him dodge disciplinary action within the police force.

The nation’s police chief can be nominated by the president without parliamentary approval and regardless of the results of the Assembly hearing.

Kim was pardoned in the general amnesty by the Kim Young-sam administration in 1995, a measure which acquitted those convicted of some 35 crimes including drunk driving.

His offense nevertheless led to criticism of his ethical standards during the hearing held by the parliamentary Security and Public Administration Committee, with opposition lawmakers accusing him of being “unfit for the post.”

Their protest also targeted Cheong Wa Dae and the scandal-ridden senior presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo for failing to screen out “unqualified officials” such as Lee.

Woo, a senior civil affairs aide in charge of selecting candidates for the government’s key posts, has been under investigation as part of a probe into key figures of a high-profile corruption case. He is also suspected of abusing his status to help his son get assigned to a relatively easy military post during his national service.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)