Seoul Mayor accused of misappropriating funds

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Staff reporter

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is suspected of improperly handling his official expenses by providing a total of 67 million won ($55,000) to the employees of his secretarial office over the past two years.

After being informed of an allegation from the Korean Government Employee Union (KGEU), the prosecution is currently looking to find if there is any validity in the accusation.

Seoul city has denied the allegation, arguing that Oh spent his expenses in accordance with related regulations.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office recently summoned an official of the Seoul City secretarial office for questioning regarding the suspicion. The prosecutors have been investigating whether the secretary's office received money from Mayor Oh and if so, how the money was spent.

In March, the KGEU filed complaints with the prosecution against 12 local government heads, including Oh, then Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo and Busan Mayor Hur Nam-sik, charging them with having misappropriated official expenses.

The union claimed that Oh paid some 67 million won ($55,000) to the secretary's office as incentives from August 2006 to June 2008, but the office is actually not eligible to receive such benefits. "This is an act of endowment prohibited under the Election Law," a KGEU official said.

However, Seoul City said that there has been nothing wrong with how Oh allots the official funds.

"The incentives were given to encourage staff members who operated on-site duties such as snow removal or flood prevention or departments overseeing certain projects," a city official said. "For the secretarial office, it was paid as commuting expenses for overtime workers or those who supported on-site events."