By Lee Hyo-sik
Top Seoul educator Kwak No-hyun faces a summons Monday after the prosecution raided his residence Friday to secure evidence showing his involvement in bribery.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it will question Kwak, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, about whether he gave 200 million won ($184,000) to Park Myoung-gee, a professor at Seoul National University of Education, in exchange for the latter’s exit from the election to the chief educator post last year.
“We have demanded Kwak appear for questioning at 10 a.m. Monday. He notified us that he will do so as requested. We have been questioning Kwak’s wife and close aides, as well as Park’s confidants. Everyone is telling a different story. So, we will question Kwak intensely to get to the bottom of the case,” a prosecution official said.
Investigators may arrest the liberal educator after the questioning if Kwak is found to have committed any violations of the nation’s election laws, the official said.
The move came hours after investigators searched Kwak’s residence in southwestern Seoul as part of efforts to secure evidence that he promised to give and gave money to Park, one of the two candidates from the liberal camp during the June 2 local elections.
Park’s exit was widely believed to have been a key factor in Kwak’s victory against a group of conservatives as he became the unified liberal candidate. A total of six contenders from the conservative camp ran, splitting the vote.
Four investigators raided Kwak’s house at 8 a.m. and confiscated computer hard drives and other material.
They also seized computer files and other documents from the house, owned by Kim Seong-oh who helped manage Kwak’s campaign fund last year.
Right after the bribery scandal erupted last week, Kwak held a press conference at which he admitted giving money to Park, but claimed that he gave it out of “goodwill,” expecting nothing in return from the professor who Kwak said was heavily indebted due to the election campaign.
But prosecutors have brushed off such claims as an excuse to avoid legal responsibility and keep his position, stressing that they have secured concrete evidence that at least 200 million won was delivered to Park for his withdrawal.
Earlier this week, the prosecution grilled Kwak’s aides who helped his election campaign last year about whether they played a role in the alleged “money-for-withdrawal” deal.
Kwak’s wife and her sister were also questioned over suspicions that they helped deliver the money to Park.
However, Kwak has vowed to remain as Seoul’s top educator, resisting growing calls for his resignation.
His aides have also said Kwak was never engaged in any behind-the-scenes deal with Park over the candidacy.
They claimed that Park demanded money to repay debts he owed for his own campaigning, but Kwak rejected it. They said Park kept demanding “compensation” even after Kwak won the election.