‘The Tomb of the County Governors’, Former and Current Uiryeong County Governors Head to Court One After Another... What Will Happen to the Current Governor's Re-election Bid?

In the Past Decade, All Four Former and Current Heads Have Been Prosecuted

County Governor Oh Tae-wan of Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongnam, presiding over the town and township chiefs meeting. Governor Oh was recently indicted without detention on charges of forcibly molesting a female journalist.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Se-ryeong] Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, has become known as the "graveyard of county governors." Following the former county governors, even the current county governor is now facing legal judgment.

Including the current officeholder, there have been four Uiryeong county governors in the past decade, and all of them have been prosecuted.

In the land of loyalty, proud to have produced figures such as the "Red General" Gwak Jae-woo and independence activist Baeksan An Hee-je, the citizens are uneasy as former and current county governors face a series of judicial actions.

Since 2010, former county governors Kim Chae-yong, Lee Seon-du, and Oh Young-ho, as well as the current county governor Oh Tae-wan, have recently been indicted.

Former county governor Lee Seon-du was arrested in 2018 before the local elections on charges of embezzling operating funds from the Uiryeong agricultural product sales corporation Toyoae to use as election funds. Former county governor Oh Young-ho was sentenced to prison in 2020 for illegally raising election funds using part of Toyoae's distribution funds and was taken into custody in court.

Former county governor Oh Young-ho was additionally charged with ordering organized crime members to threaten a reporter who wrote negative articles about him, and in last month's appeal trial, he was sentenced to 2 years and 2 months in prison.

Former county governor Kim Chae-yong was indicted last August on charges of conspiring with former Toyoae representative Lee to lift a provisional seizure of 590 million KRW without board resolution during his tenure in 2013, causing financial damage.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Masan Branch of Changwon District Court is scheduled to hold the first trial verdict on the 21st for Kim, who was indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

On the 10th, current county governor Oh Tae-wan was prosecuted on charges of forcibly molesting a female journalist about five months before the 2022 local elections.

The Masan Branch of Changwon District Prosecutors' Office indicted him on June 17 last year for forcibly molesting a female reporter during a dinner meeting with journalists who cover the county office at a restaurant in Uiryeong-gun.

Governor Oh has issued a statement denying the charges, asserting that he did not commit the alleged acts.

He was also previously indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act by falsely stating his civil servant rank while serving in Gyeongnam Province during the April 7 local election re-election last year.

Regarding this charge, he was fined 800,000 KRW in the first trial held in November last year, allowing him to maintain his position as county governor.

Having escaped the "election law shackles," Governor Oh Tae-wan has clearly expressed his intention to seek re-election in the upcoming June local elections.

As an incumbent leader, he has secured a favorable position for re-election, but his candidacy may be determined depending on the outcome of the current trial.

If Governor Oh is acquitted in the first trial on the molestation charges, he is expected to actively pursue his candidacy in the local elections.

However, the Gyeongnam Women's Association issued a statement on the 13th opposing Governor Oh's claim of innocence and demanding punishment. Even if acquitted in the first trial, the prosecution is likely to appeal.

If acquitted, he may receive his party's nomination, but if an appeal is filed or a guilty verdict is rendered in the first trial, it could be difficult for him to run.

Governor Oh stated, "Through addition for harmony, multiplication for economic development, division for love of the citizens, and subtraction of various bad customs and corruption, I will engage in arithmetic operations for a new Uiryeong."

Attention is focused on whether he will escape the "subtraction" target and shed the stigma of the "graveyard of county governors."

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