The Corruption Investigation Office Announces Investigation Results on Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon Today... Prosecution Decision to Be Made by the Prosecutors

Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Cho Hee-yeon, suspected of unfair special recruitment of dismissed teachers. / Gwacheon=Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (Gong-su-cheo) will announce the investigation results on the special hiring allegations of dismissed teachers by Cho Hee-yeon, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent, which was the agency's 'first case,' on the 3rd.

At 10:30 a.m. on the same day, Gong-su-cheo will hold a briefing at the Government Gwacheon Complex regarding the investigation results on Superintendent Cho and his former chief secretary Han Mo, who are suspected of abuse of authority and violation of the State Public Officials Act.

Superintendent Cho is accused of directing his chief secretary in 2018 to allow five dismissed teachers, including four from the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Jeon-gyo-jo), to be specially hired, improperly involving himself in the selection of screening committee members, or excluding the then vice superintendent who opposed this from work (charges of abuse of authority and violation of the State Public Officials Act).

Previously, the Board of Audit and Inspection confirmed these misconducts by Superintendent Cho, reported him to the police for violating the State Public Officials Act, and provided related misconduct materials to Gong-su-cheo as reference for investigation.

Following Gong-su-cheo's request, the police transferred the case to Gong-su-cheo, which then conducted a full-scale investigation, including raiding the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and summoning related persons for questioning, after assigning the case number '2021 Gong-je 1' on April 23.

At the Gong-su-cheo Prosecution Deliberation Committee (Gong-sim-wi) held on the 30th of last month, seven of the eleven members, including nine lawyers and two legal scholars, attended and resolved to prosecute Superintendent Cho and former chief secretary Han.

In the legal community, since the case began with the Board of Audit and Inspection's report and the Gong-sim-wi has decided that prosecution is necessary, it is widely expected that Gong-su-cheo will request the prosecution to file charges.

Under the Gong-su-cheo Act, Gong-su-cheo does not have the authority to prosecute for abuse of authority charges against a superintendent; therefore, if Gong-su-cheo decides prosecution is necessary for Superintendent Cho, it will forward the case documents and evidence to a prosecutor belonging to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which has jurisdiction.

After reviewing the case, the prosecutor must notify the Gong-su-cheo Chief whether to file charges.

Earlier, Superintendent Cho's side claimed that "the Gong-sim-wi resolution is invalid because it infringed on the rights of the suspect and defense counsel to make statements," and requested Chief Kim Jin-wook to reconvene the Gong-sim-wi.

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