Ex-lawmaker referred to prosecution over daughter's hiring at university

Former opposition lawmaker Yoo Seong-min and three university officials have been referred to the prosecution for possible indictment over allegations of preferential treatment in the hiring of Yoo's daughter as a professor by Incheon National University (INU), police said Friday.

The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said Yoo, INU President Lee In-jae and two INU professors were sent to the prosecution without detention on charges of obstruction of business. Lee and the two professors were also charged with violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

The four are suspected of obstructing the university's recruitment process when Yoo's daughter, Yoo Dam, 32, was hired as a faculty member in its trade department in the second semester of last year.

Lee and the two professors are also suspected of receiving improper solicitations concerning the hiring of Yoo's daughter, although investigators found no evidence that they had accepted money or valuables, the police said.

The police announcement came after an investigation that began in November last year. They also questioned Yoo's daughter in writing but did not book her as a suspect after failing to identify any evidence of criminal activity.