Ex-National Election Commission secretary general sentenced to 2 years for rigging son's hiring

The former secretary general of the National Election Commission was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday in a first-instance ruling on charges that he arranged for his son to be hired as a commission employee and granted him a series of preferential benefits.

The Incheon District Court's 12th Criminal Division, presided over by Judge Shin Sang-ryeol, handed down the sentence against former Secretary General Kim Se-hwan on charges of abuse of authority and violations of the State Public Officials Act.

The court declined to detain Kim in the courtroom, finding no risk that he would destroy evidence or flee.

The panel found Kim guilty on all counts except one — the charge that he arranged for a transfer examination at the Incheon Metropolitan Election Commission to be conducted remotely.

"As the then-director, the defendant had supervisory and personnel authority over subordinate officials," the court said. "He informed the person in charge at the Incheon Metropolitan Election Commission that his son was sitting the exam and directed that a specific employee be placed on the interview panel."

The court added that by issuing those instructions — and having them carried out — Kim had violated the principle that career-track hiring must proceed fairly and free from outside interference, causing subordinates to perform acts they had no obligation to perform.

On the matter of his son's transfer to the Incheon Metropolitan Election Commission, the court found that the minimum service requirement had been lowered without reasonable justification and that Kim's son was the sole beneficiary of the change. It also found that Kim had instructed commission staff to arrange official housing for his son and had an additional unit allocated to him.

The court also rejected the defense's argument that evidence gathered during a Board of Audit and Inspection probe into the National Election Commission's personnel management practices had been collected unlawfully and was therefore inadmissible.

The Constitutional Court had previously ruled last year that the National Election Commission fell outside the Board of Audit and Inspection's jurisdiction for job-performance audits and that such an audit was unconstitutional and unlawful.

The court noted, however, that the Constitutional Court's ruling on the encroachment of authority did not go so far as to nullify the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit.

The court further held that even if the evidence gathered during the audit were deemed not to have been collected in accordance with legally prescribed procedures, excluding it as unlawfully obtained would produce a result contrary to the pursuit of substantive truth — and on that basis admitted the evidence.

In explaining the sentencing rationale, the court said the National Election Commission, as a constitutional body granted independent authority and status over its personnel operations, is held to a higher standard of fairness and transparency.

"The social compact that equal opportunity is available to all and that the law and its principles apply uniformly is the minimum foundation sustaining our society," the court said. "Public officials must uphold a standard of fairness and transparency more rigorous than anyone else in the exercise of the public authority entrusted to them by the people."

The court went on to say that Kim "forgot his duty as a senior official of the National Election Commission, abused his authority, and caused subordinates to perform acts they had no obligation to perform." His conduct, the court added, "undermined the principle of fairness — the idea that effort is rewarded — and inflicted a sense of loss and helplessness on the people, including the younger generation who sought to enter public service through ability and hard work."

"This crime, committed behind the constitutionally guaranteed independent status of the National Election Commission, damaged the commission's standing as a constitutional body," the court said. "The basic social principle that responsibility must be proportionate to the size of one's power and authority makes it entirely appropriate to impose a severe punishment on the defendant."

Kim was indicted without detention on charges including exerting influence to have his son hired as a Grade 8 civil servant at the Ganghwa-gun Election Commission, a subordinate body of the Incheon Metropolitan Election Commission, between November and December 2019.

He also faces charges of illegally arranging official housing for his son in violation of relevant regulations when his son was transferred to the Incheon Metropolitan Election Commission secretariat after just one year.

Kim's son had been working at the Ganghwa County Office before moving to the National Election Commission through a competitive career-hire process.

Investigators found that Kim, who was then deputy secretary general of the National Election Commission — a vice-ministerial-level post — selected a close acquaintance as an interview panelist and called that person before the interview to inform them that his son would be sitting the exam.