Former Gwangju Education Office Personnel Chief Sentenced to 1 Year and 6 Months for Audit Officer Appointment Interference

Guilty of Manipulating Interview Scores and Submitting False Reports,
Not Guilty of Leaking Official Secrets
Prosecution Probes Higher-Level Involvement,
Supreme Court Reviewing Appeal

The former head of the personnel team, who was indicted for involvement in the interview evaluation process during the appointment of Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Lee Jungseon's high school classmate as the audit officer, has been sentenced to one year and six months in prison in the first trial.

On August 12, Judge Ji Hyesun of the Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 5 sentenced Mr. A (55), the former head of the personnel team who was arrested and indicted on charges including falsification and use of official documents and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means, to one year and six months in prison and dismissed his request for bail. The court found Mr. A not guilty of leaking official secrets, but found him guilty of the remaining charges, including interfering in the interview evaluation and submitting false reports.

Gwangju District Court. Photo by Song Bohyun

Mr. A is accused of manipulating the interview scores during the selection of the audit officer in August 2022, so that Mr. B, who was initially ranked third, had his score revised by some evaluators to move up in the rankings, and then reporting to the personnel committee as if Mr. B had been ranked second from the beginning. Mr. B, who ultimately passed the selection, was a high school classmate of Superintendent Lee. As the controversy grew, Mr. B voluntarily resigned after just seven months in the position.

The prosecution indicted Mr. A first and is currently investigating whether higher-level officials were involved. In March of this year, prosecutors conducted a search and seizure at the city education office, securing Superintendent Lee's mobile phone and interview evaluation materials. Superintendent Lee's quasi-appeal claiming the search and seizure was unlawful was dismissed, and the Supreme Court is currently reviewing the appeal case.

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