Heo Seok, Mayor of Suncheon, Faces Trial That Hindered City Administration for 2 Years and 6 Months... Verdict Scheduled for Next Month

Incident from 10 Years Ago, Reported Right After the 2018 Local Elections, 2 Years and 6 Months of Legal Battle
Voluntary Sponsorship and Actual Newspaper Work Performance Are the Key Issues in the Trial

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] The trial that began after former Suncheon City Council member Lee filed a complaint against elected Suncheon Mayor Heo Seok immediately following the local elections in June 2018 is entering its final stage after more than two and a half years of legal battles, with a verdict expected next month.

As Heo Seok was elected as the 7th term Suncheon Mayor, former council member Lee filed a complaint regarding issues that occurred during the operation of the ‘Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper’ over the past 10 years, which has hindered Mayor Heo and the Suncheon city administration. With sentencing and prosecution imminent, public interest is focused on the case.

▶ Relationship between the three defendants including Mayor Heo Seok and complainant former council member Lee

The three defendants include Mayor Heo Seok, who is the representative of the ‘Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper,’ Jung (last name) who is the editor-in-chief, and Park (last name) who is the accounting staff.

The complainant, former council member Lee, worked as a reporter and professional freelancer for the ‘Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper’ for about two years before being strategically nominated by the Democratic Party in the 2010 local elections and elected as a Suncheon City Council member.

▶ Reason former council member Lee filed a complaint against representative Heo Seok

Former council member Lee held a press conference on July 24, 2018, stating, “While settling my election expenses, I happened to discover an unknown bank account. Upon inquiry at the bank, I found evidence that the ‘Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper,’ where I once worked, had used the account without my knowledge, leading me to file a complaint on charges including embezzlement.”

In other words, the account into which salaries including subsidies from the Regional Newspaper Development Committee were deposited was under Lee’s name, but the money was deposited and withdrawn repeatedly through an unknown account, leading to accusations of subsidy embezzlement against the defendants.

The police and prosecution, after over a year of investigation, indicted Mayor Heo Seok and the then editor-in-chief and accounting staff on July 22, 2019, on charges of ‘fraud’ without detention.

▶ Former council member Lee claims he was unaware of the account’s existence

Lee claimed that he discovered the account by chance during the settlement of election expenses in 2018.

He asserted that although he never worked there, the newspaper deposited and repeatedly withdrew salaries including subsidies into the account he found.

Whether Lee truly did not know about the account’s existence became a key issue in the trial.

During the trial, it was confirmed that Lee had issued a bankbook on April 25, 2007, and handed over the bankbook and password to the newspaper’s accounting staff.

Additionally, he reissued the bankbook in 2010 and 2012 and handed it over to the newspaper again.

The reason for reissuing the bankbook was due to magnetic damage and other issues.

▶ Reason for prosecution’s indictment on ‘fraud’ charges

The prosecution indicted the defendants on charges of fraud for receiving subsidies from the Regional Newspaper Development Committee, paying salaries to reporters and freelance experts, and then receiving the money back as sponsorships to use as operating funds for the ‘Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper,’ thereby conspiring to embezzle subsidies.

The issues can be broadly classified into three categories.

The first issue is whether former council member Lee and related parties actually worked at the newspaper.

The second issue is whether the act of sponsoring part of the salary back to the newspaper was voluntary.

The third issue is the extent of representative Heo’s involvement in the newspaper’s operations.

▶ Did the reporters, freelancers, and experts who received subsidies actually work?

Former council member Lee claims, “I never worked,” and “I had no intention to sponsor, so it’s fraud.”

Most of the parties who appeared as witnesses during the trial testified that they actually engaged in work.

The defense argued that due to the nature of the newspaper, daily attendance was not required, and presented articles written and reported by the witnesses as evidence.

Meanwhile, the column and photos titled published in the ‘Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper’ during Lee’s term as council member became a significant issue in the trial.

Lee claimed he never worked as a reporter or professional committee member for the ‘Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper’ during his council activities, but his Suncheon City Council profile lists him as a professional committee member of the newspaper, causing controversy.

Whether the photos published in were provided by Lee or used without permission by the editor-in-chief is expected to be a crucial issue for the court in determining whether the complainant actually worked at the newspaper during his council term.

▶ Was the sponsorship of a significant portion of the salary voluntary?

The complainant insists, “I never sponsored.”

The prosecution accepted the complainant’s claim and focused on proving that the sponsorship was not voluntary but part of a conspiracy during the trial.

Witnesses testified that the sponsorship was a purely voluntary act.

One witness even testified, “I wanted to sponsor more but couldn’t.”

▶ Bank account under ‘Heo Seok’s’ name

There is significant doubt about the “bank account under Heo Seok’s name” or “why money was transferred through Heo Seok’s personal account instead of a corporate account.”

The complainant said, “Money was transferred through an account under Heo Seok’s name,” and at a press conference said, “It was used like petty cash.”

According to testimonies from defendants and witnesses during the trial, the ‘account under Heo Seok’s name’ was opened in 1992 during the operation of the Labor Issues Research Institute and was later used as the ‘Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper sponsorship account.’

It was also confirmed that the same account was used to raise funds when recruiting citizen shareholders during the newspaper’s launch in 2001 and was subsequently used as a sponsorship account for newspaper operations.

▶ Role of Suncheon Citizen’s Newspaper representative Heo Seok

Another major issue in this case is the role of defendant Heo as the newspaper’s representative.

At a press conference, the complainant said, “Representative Heo never interfered with newspaper articles,” and “Politician Heo and journalist Heo are different.”

The defense argued, “As revealed through investigation, Representative Heo never received a salary since the newspaper’s launch and only performed external representative duties,” and “Since starting a writing academy at the end of 2002, he did not attend the newspaper office, had no desk there, contributed columns to the newspaper, and only took limited roles as a representative at external newspaper events.”

In particular, the newspaper was an extension of the community from labor movements to civic movements and media movements, and employees other than the representative received only about 1 million KRW in activity expenses regardless of rank.

During the trial on the 11th, the prosecution intensely questioned Park, who appeared as a witness, about Heo’s role.

The prosecution obtained a memo notebook with notes such as “Report to the representative” and “To the director,” trying to find a connection to Heo, but Park testified that Heo had not been involved with the newspaper since around 2005-2006.

▶ Impact on the local community depending on the trial and verdict of Mayor Heo

The case has caused much speculation and rumors, hindering Mayor Heo’s administration during the 7th term.

If the court accepts the complainant’s claims and sentences Mayor Heo to imprisonment or higher, the latter half of the 7th term administration led by Mayor Heo will suffer considerable damage.

The case will proceed with Mayor Heo’s final defense and closing statements, prosecution’s sentencing, and the court’s verdict expected around the end of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.