Police won't send about 130 Gyeonggi councillors to prosecutors over staff trip costs
In short
Police in Suwon have decided not to refer to prosecutors 112 Gyeonggi Provincial Council members and 19 Suwon City Council members accused of paying part of officials' travel expenses on overseas trips. Police concluded that public officials cannot be recipients of donations under the Public Official Election Act. Separately, 5 council officials and 11 travel agency staff were sent to prosecutors in April over allegedly inflated trip costs.
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Police have closed their investigation into about 130 members of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council and the Suwon City Council without referring them to prosecutors, while sending some council officials and travel agency staff to prosecutors, Yonhap, Seoul Shinmun and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. Suwon Yeongtong Police Station said on the 9th that it decided on the 7th not to refer 112 Gyeonggi Provincial Council members it had booked for violating the Public Official Election Act (restrictions on donations). The members were accused of repeatedly paying part of officials' travel expenses during overseas trips. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Police booked 112 of about 150 provincial council members referred to them by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. After reviewing how the payments were made, how the money was used and the relationships among those involved, police concluded that public officials cannot be the object of donations under the election law. A police official told Yonhap that the councillors' electoral districts and the officials' places of residence differed, and that given the nature of the gathering as an overseas trip, it was judged to be far from an illegal donation. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Suwon Paldal Police Station also booked 19 Suwon City Council members on suspicion of paying officials' travel expenses on overseas trips, and decided on the 2nd not to refer them, for the same reason. [ 1 , 2 ]
Separately, over allegations of inflated overseas trip costs, Suwon Yeongtong police sent five Gyeonggi Provincial Council officials and 11 travel agency staff to prosecutors without detention in April, on charges of breach of trust and fraud respectively. The officials are accused of setting airfares and other costs higher than actual and using the leftover money as trip expenses, and the travel agency staff of deceiving the council by inflating the costs in communication with them. Yonhap reported that police judged they overpaid in line with custom while knowing it broke the rules. Police found the provincial council members took part in the trips without being aware of the practice, and did not book them in that case. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission inspected overseas trips by 243 local councils nationwide in 2024, found rule violations, and asked police to investigate in February last year. In January, while the investigation was under way, a grade-7 Gyeonggi Provincial Council official was found dead, leaving a note. [ 1 , 3 ]
Yonhap reported that as local council officials across the country were sent to prosecutors on related charges, some civic groups criticised the outcome as a typical case of 'cutting off the tail', saying the local councillors who were the real beneficiaries of the trips had escaped responsibility. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
The decision ends the police investigation into the councillors over the overseas trip spending, while the case against council officials and travel agency staff goes forward. Yonhap reported that some civic groups have criticised the outcome, saying the local councillors who benefited from the trips escaped responsibility.
Key facts
- Suwon Yeongtong Police Station said on the 9th that it decided on the 7th not to refer 112 Gyeonggi Provincial Council members to prosecutors. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The members had been booked on suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act (restrictions on donations) by repeatedly paying part of officials' travel expenses on overseas trips. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Police booked 112 of about 150 provincial council members referred by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Police concluded that public officials cannot be the object of donations under the election law. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Suwon Paldal Police Station booked 19 Suwon City Council members on the same suspicion and decided on the 2nd not to refer them, for the same reason. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Five Gyeonggi Provincial Council officials and 11 travel agency staff were sent to prosecutors without detention in April, on charges of breach of trust and fraud respectively, over allegedly inflated overseas trip costs. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- In January, a grade-7 Gyeonggi Provincial Council official was found dead, leaving a note, while the investigation was under way. [ 1 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Police decided not to refer 112 Gyeonggi Provincial Council members booked under the Public Official Election Act to prosecutors. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Police concluded that public officials cannot be the object of donations under the election law. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- 19 Suwon City Council members booked on the same suspicion were not referred to prosecutors. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Five council officials and 11 travel agency staff were sent to prosecutors in April on breach of trust and fraud charges. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission inspected overseas trips by 243 local councils in 2024 and asked police to investigate in February last year. [ 1 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Some civic groups called the outcome a typical case of 'cutting off the tail', saying the councillors who benefited from the trips escaped responsibility. Reported only by Yonhap; the groups are not named.
- Why the remaining roughly 38 of the about 150 referred provincial council members were not booked. The documents say 112 of about 150 were booked but give no reason for the others.