Former NEC Secretary-General Sentenced to 2 Years for Son's Preferential Hiring

[Anchor]

The National Election Commission (NEC) has faced criticism for being a family-run organization, following a series of allegations regarding preferential hiring of children, even before the controversy over poor election management. Kim Se-hwan, the former Secretary-General of the NEC and a central figure in these cases, has been sentenced to two years in prison in the first trial for his involvement in the hiring of his son.

Reporter Kim Gyu-ri has the story.

[Reporter]

[(Reporter: "Most of the charges were found guilty. What is your position?") ....]

The Incheon District Court sentenced Kim Se-hwan, the former Secretary-General of the National Election Commission, to two years in prison for his involvement in the unfair hiring of his son as an NEC employee.

Kim's son, identified as A, was working as a civil servant at the Ganghwa-gun Office before transferring to the Ganghwa-gun Election Commission through a career recruitment process in 2019.

Within a year of his transfer, he moved to the Incheon City Election Commission office and was provided with official government housing. The court ruled that the former Secretary-General had unfairly intervened in this process.

The court found him guilty of designating specific interviewers, informing them of his son's application, and instructing staff to designate an officetel where his son would reside as an additional official residence.

The court also determined that the qualification requirements for the transfer exam to the Incheon City Election Commission were relaxed without any reasonable justification, and that Kim's son was the only person to benefit from these changes.

The court criticized the former Secretary-General, stating that his actions "not only caused a sense of loss and helplessness among the younger generation and the public but also triggered social outrage."

However, the court did not order him to be taken into court custody, citing his lack of a prior criminal record and the absence of a flight risk or risk of destroying evidence.

Last year, the Board of Audit and Inspection conducted an audit of the NEC and revealed that since 2013, approximately 870 violations of regulations had been uncovered during 290 career recruitment processes at the commission.

Reported by Kim Han-gyeol | Video by Chae Cheol-ho | Graphics by Lee Jong-jeong | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.