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Gyeonggi accused of covering up bribery case
By Lee Kyung-min
Nam Kyung-pil
By Lee Kyung-min
Gyeonggi Provincial Government is facing allegations that it attempted to cover up a possible case of bribery involving a former aide of Gyeonggi Governor Nam Kyung-pil.
The former aide, identified only by his surname Kim, worked at the provincial government as an advisor to Nam after the latter was sworn in as governor in July. Kim worked as one of Nam’s campaigners during a local election in June.
However, it was only learned later that Kim quit after the bribery allegations were raised in September.
After conducting its own investigation, the provincial government concluded that the suspicions were false and did not refer the case to the prosecution. It also failed to make the case public.
According to the provincial government, it received a letter alleging that Kim received 300 million won ($273,000) in January last year from a businessman in return for helping him win a seat on the provincial council.
The provincial government looked into the allegations, but later concluded that they were groundless, after receiving a call from the businessman that the money had nothing to do with the council seat.
The sender of the letter also retracted his claims and apologized to Kim and the provincial government, saying there was a “misunderstanding” when he wrote it.
However, the provincial government nonetheless asked Kim to resign.
”We could not risk the governor’s name being associated with bribery allegations,” a provincial official said.
“We could not push ahead with the investigation because the people involved all explained themselves. Moreover, the alleged offering of a bribe took place in January to February of last year, months before Kim joined Nam’s campaign team. What happened then has nothing to do with the governor.”