Election Commission Judges Kim Se-hwan Former Secretary-General's Son's Official Residence and Business Trip as 'Inappropriate'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Election Commission conducted an internal special inspection regarding allegations of preferential treatment involving the son of former Secretary-General Kim Se-hwan and determined that there were inappropriate handling of duties related to the use of official housing and overseas business trips.

According to the National Election Commission on the 18th, the special audit team investigated allegations concerning Kim's son, Kim, who is employed at the Incheon City Election Commission, and confirmed inappropriate handling of duties in some matters. The special inspection revealed that Kim's son inquired about the possibility of moving into official housing and subsequently used the Incheon City Election Commission's official residence from January 8, 2021, to January 28 of this year. The National Election Commission explained that this violated regulations prohibiting residence in official housing when transferred to a new position based on personal preference.

The special audit team also pointed out inappropriate handling of duties regarding Kim's business trip to Philadelphia, USA, just before the presidential election earlier this year. It was reported that Kim was not initially on the list of recommended business trip candidates from the city and provincial election commissions but was selected as a trip participant without the recommendation procedure during the replacement process due to the expansion of overseas polling stations. However, the National Election Commission stated that there was no evidence that former Secretary-General Kim exerted undue influence, so-called 'dad power,' to secure this advantage. Allegations of internal regulation changes and preferred job assignments during personnel transfers raised internally were also not clearly substantiated.

Previously, Kim's son worked at Ganghwa County Office before transferring to the Incheon City Election Commission in January 2020. At that time, former Secretary-General Kim was the Deputy Secretary-General (vice-ministerial level) of the National Election Commission Secretariat. Kim's son was promoted to Grade 7 just six months after his transfer, on July 7 of the same year. Three months later, former Secretary-General Kim was appointed Secretary-General (ministerial level), overseeing election management operations. Former Secretary-General Kim resigned on the 16th of last month amid controversies over poor management of early voting for COVID-19 confirmed and quarantined individuals. Analysts interpreted that the sudden resignation was largely influenced by the recent allegations concerning his son's transfer and preferential treatment at the Election Commission.

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