Prosecution Seeks 2-Year Prison Sentence for Superintendent Jo Hee-yeon on Charges of Unfair Hiring

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who is suspected of irregular hiring involving dismissed teachers, is attending a trial held on June 3 at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The prosecution has requested a two-year prison sentence for Cho Hee-yeon, the Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who was indicted on charges of unfair special hiring of dismissed teachers.

At the sentencing hearing held on the 23rd at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25-2 (Presiding Judges Park Jeong-je, Park Sa-rang, Park Jeong-gil), the prosecution asked the court to "sentence Superintendent Cho to two years in prison." They also requested a one year and six months prison sentence for Han, the former chief secretary who was in charge of the practical work.

The prosecution pointed out, "The defendants claim there is no problem because they went through a collusive process, but this is just 'turning a blind eye'," adding, "It cannot be said that the five hired individuals and other applicants underwent a fair competition."

Superintendent Cho was brought to trial on charges of abuse of authority for giving improper instructions to officials in charge to specially hire five dismissed teachers from the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Jeon-gyo-jo), whose conviction for violating election laws was confirmed between October and December 2018.

He is also accused of conducting the hiring process under the guise of an open competitive exam while having preselected these individuals, and of instructing some examiners to give high scores to specific candidates, violating the National Public Officials Act. If a sentence of imprisonment without prison labor or higher is confirmed, Superintendent Cho must step down from his position.

This case was transferred from the police to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in May last year, marking the first investigation case since the CIO's establishment. After about four months of investigation, the CIO forwarded the case to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment, and the prosecution reached the same conclusion, indicting Superintendent Cho without detention at the end of the same year.

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