Ex-county governor jailed for hiring gangster to threaten journalist

Uiryeong County Office in South Gyeongsang Province / Uiryeong County Office's homepage

By Ko Dong-hwan

Oh Yeong-ho, former governor of Uiryeong County / Yonhap

The former Uiryeong County governor has been put behind bars for hiring a gangster to threaten a journalist who was critical of him when he was in office.

The Changwon District Court's Masan branch court on Feb. 17 sentenced Oh Yeong-ho, 72, to two years and four months in prison.

After Oh took office in July 2014, the journalist wrote three articles revealing allegations surrounding him, including possible violations of the Election Law.

The judge said Oh's acts of corruption were "nothing short of what has been portrayed in movies" and "seriously damaged the image of an elected public official." The sentencing also took into account the fact that the former governor refused to admit his wrongdoing and the reporter refused to forgive him.

Oh, who had run the South Gyeongsang provincial county until 2018, contacted a friend, a construction contractor, to ask if he knew anyone who could make the reporter stop writing such stories. The contractor acted upon the request, and in November that year, Oh was introduced to a gangster, who was notorious in the region and had a record of attempted murder and violence.

Over two meetings, Oh met the gangster and told him, according to Korean broadcaster KBS, "I want to kill that reporter but since I cannot, you take care of him instead." He offered 1 million won ($905) and helped him run a food distribution business under the control of the county.

After taking the money, the gangster repeatedly called the reporter to tell him to stop writing such stories. The reporter ignored the calls suspecting they were made by someone who disliked his articles. The gangster then visited a cafe the reporter was running and threatened him, telling him to stop criticizing Oh in the newpaper.

Other charges accepted by the Masan court included conducting 24 illegal financial transactions using another person's bank account to hide his assets.

Oh has been in prison since September 2020 when he was sentenced to nine months in jail for having embezzled 60 million won from the food distribution company to use for his election campaign in 2014.

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