Council members speak at the South Chungcheong Provincial Council on Aug. 14.SHIN JIN-HO
One in four winners of the June 3 local elections in Daejeon, Sejong and South Chungcheong have criminal records, according to a survey.
Of the 358 people elected in the three regions, 94, or 26 percent, had a combined 135 criminal convictions, according to the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) for Daejeon and Cheonan-Asan. Some had multiple convictions for serious offenses including fraud and assault, as well as drunk driving.
In Daejeon, 18 of 91 winners had criminal records. The figure was five of 22 in Sejong and 71 of 245 in South Chungcheong.
Nine of the 20 elected heads of basic local governments had criminal records, as did 17 of 80 elected members of the Daejeon, Sejong and South Chungcheong metropolitan and provincial councils. Among 209 elected members of district, city and county councils, 58 had criminal records.
Three of the 13 proportional representatives elected to metropolitan and provincial councils had criminal records, while seven of 33 proportional representatives elected to basic local councils had records. None of the three elected mayors and governors had a criminal record.
By party, 49 of the elected officials with criminal records were members of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), 44 were from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) and one was an independent.
In South Chungcheong, five of the 15 elected heads of basic local governments had criminal records. Fourteen of the 50 members of the South Chungcheong Provincial Council had criminal records.
The proportion was higher among basic local council members. Of the 179 council members elected across South Chungcheong's 15 cities and counties, 61 had criminal records. The Boryeong City Council had the highest proportion, with 11 of its 12 members holding criminal records. By contrast, the Nonsan, Dangjin and Gyeryong city councils each had only one member with a criminal record.
A meeting is held at the Daejeon City Council in Daejeon on July 24.DAEJEON CITY COUNCIL
One member of the Buyeo County Council had seven convictions, including violations of the environmental conservation law and the traffic law. One member of the Yesan County Council had six convictions, including two for obstruction of official duties, as well as convictions for drunk driving, property damage and inflicting bodily injury on another person. One member of the Seocheon County Council had five convictions, including fraud.
The Daejeon and Cheonan-Asan chapters of the CCEJ blamed what they described as unclear, top-down nominations by the two major parties for allowing large numbers of unsuitable candidates with multiple convictions to win elections. The civic groups claimed that constituency lawmakers wielded overwhelming influence over the nomination process, taking precedence over assessments of candidates' qualifications and ethics.
The CCEJ called for stricter nomination standards and more transparent nomination procedures and said it plans to continue closely monitoring the elected officials' activities.
“This is the result of political parties shirking their responsibilities in an electoral system that makes it difficult for voters to examine candidates’ criminal records in detail,” a CCEJ representative said. “Each party should tighten its nomination standards and strengthen the system so that candidates’ criminal records remain publicly available even after elections.”
BY SHIN JIN-HO [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
