Former Gangseo District Council chair sentenced to five years in prison in first trial for accepting a gold necklace and cash in exchange for hiring

[Financial News] A former chair of the Seoul Gangseo District Council, who was indicted on charges of accepting money and valuables in exchange for hiring civil servants, has been sentenced to prison.
The 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court, presided over by Judge Park Jong-ryeol, on the 14th sentenced former Gangseo District Council chair Park to five years in prison, imposed an 80 million won fine and ordered the forfeiture of 17.5 million won. Former operations committee chair Jeon, who was also arrested and indicted on the same charges, was sentenced to five years in prison, fined 80 million won and ordered to forfeit 40.5 million won.
They were indicted on charges of receiving from Jeong a gold necklace worth 15 million won and 25 million won in cash in exchange for hiring special-service civil servants at the Gangseo District Council between April and July last year.
They were also accused of receiving, through Jeong, 20 million won from Yu, 8 million won from Nam and 3 million won from Yeon. Former chair Park was separately charged with accepting 2 million won from Pyeon in July 2024 in exchange for extending a civil servant’s contract.
Jeong was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, on charges of offering bribes and acquiring a bribe for a third party. Yu, Nam, Yeon and Pyeon were fined between 2 million and 15 million won on charges of offering bribes.
The court found the defendants guilty of all charges. It said they had “used local council personnel appointment authority as a means of exchange for personal gain,” adding that their conduct had “fundamentally undermined public expectations and trust in the integrity and accountability that local councils must uphold.”
The court also said they had “not only harmed the fairness and transparency of individual hiring procedures, but also rendered meaningless the very purpose of the system through which the Constitution and laws grant local councils independence and autonomy,” adding that “severe punishment is unavoidable.”
The court particularly rebuked former chair Park and former operations committee chair Jeon, saying, “Although they held positions with ultimate responsibility for all personnel administration and civil servant hiring at the local council, they took the lead themselves and even made the first demands for money and other valuables. Their culpability is very serious and the nature of their crimes is reprehensible.”
Regarding Jeong, the court said, “This was an act of abandoning the basic responsibilities and duties that civil servants must uphold, so it is difficult to view Jeong’s responsibility as less serious simply because a superior had given instructions.” However, it treated the circumstances that made it difficult to refuse the superior’s demands as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
The court considered it an aggravating factor that the other bribe givers had handed over the money expecting benefits related to their employment status. However, it took into account that most had no prior criminal convictions and that it would have been difficult to refuse the demands actively made by the chair and others who could affect their hiring or employment status.
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