By Lee Hyo-sik
The new head of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) is facing growing pressure to resign from opposition parties and Internet users after he was found to have been arrested for causing a hit-and-run death while intoxicated 27 years ago.
Despite unfavorable public opinion toward his appointment KMA administrator Cho Seok-joon, the 57-year-old former KBS weatherman, has vowed to stay on, saying he is deeply sorry to the victim and the family and that he will make every effort in his new role.
In June 1984, while still at KBS, he ran over a pedestrian. Cho returned home, unaware of his actions as he was severely intoxicated behind the wheel.
Only when police officers went to arrest him at his home for drunken driving and a hit-and-run death, Cho learned that he had hit someone. He settled the matter with the victim’s family and was able to avoid receiving a prison term. Under the settlement, he paid 5 million won to the family. At that time, his monthly salary was 300,000 won.
In a recent interview with a local daily, Cho explained that he was unaware of what happened at first in 1984, saying he was drunk and had been aware that he did something wrong.
``I found out about it later when the police came to my house. I reached a settlement with the victim’s family and was punished with a fine by the courts. I deeply regret my actions at the time and will continue to do my best to serve the public,’’ he said.
However, legal experts say Cho should have been put behind bars, raising the possibility that he may have exerted undue influence over the police through his associates in power when Korea was under the control of a military dictatorship.
They also say that it was impossible for Cho to avoid a prison sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing a hit-and-run death, stressing he should have been sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison as the victim died.
Other experts have raised the possibility that Cho might have not been charged with the hit-and-run-death, adding he could have been only held responsible for drunken driving.
``Hit-and-run is a serious offense. But drunken driving is regarded as negligence. Given the fact that Cho reached an agreement with the victim’s family and quit KBS three months after the incident, the presiding judge might have been lenient with him,’’ a judge in Seoul said, declining to be named.
Ever since the news was made public, opposition party lawmakers have been calling on Cho to step down. In a joint statement issued by members of the main opposition Democratic Party and minor Democratic Labor Party on Feb. 11, they harshly criticized Cheong Wa Dae for appointing Cho as the head of Korea’s weather agency even if it was unaware of his past criminal record.
``It has been confirmed that Cho was behind the wheel while intoxicated and hit a person and left the scene of the crime in 1984. It is a serious crime and such a criminal should not have been appointed to a public office. Cheong Wa Dae has become so insensitive to moral hazards,’’ the DP said in a statement.
Internet users are also calling on him to voluntarily resign from the post, saying he is no longer considered qualified for public office.