Police Refer 729 to Prosecutors in Six-Month Crackdown on Local Corruption

South Korean police caught more than 1,800 people in a six-month special crackdown aimed at rooting out entrenched local corruption, referring 729 of them to prosecutors. More than four in 10 of those caught were public officials, with repeated cases of local government employees holding licensing authority colluding with private companies for financial gain.

The National Office of Investigation under the Korean National Police Agency said it caught 1,863 people in 693 cases between March 4 and Sept. 16 and referred 729 of them to prosecutors. Twenty-seven people facing serious charges were detained.

By type of offense, abuse of authority — including exerting improper pressure on officials involved and accepting money or goods related to their duties — accounted for the largest share at 841 people, or 45.1%. Financial misconduct, such as falsifying documents or inflating expenditures to siphon off public funds, followed with 814 people, or 43.7%.

In one case in South Gyeongsang Province, a township office employee in charge of budgets was detained on charges of embezzling 1.39587 billion won ($1 million) over 169 instances by secretly logging into the administrative information system while the township chief and deputy chief were away and approving expenditure statements for construction, goods and services.

By occupation, public officials made up the largest group at 803 people, or 43.1%, followed by private-sector employees and others at 703, or 37.7%. Police said many cases involved officials with licensing and other authority colluding with private companies seeking business advantages, often through brokers.

Police designated illegal private contracting — in which local government officials run businesses under borrowed names or use companies registered to family members to reap improper profits — as their top priority investigation target and stepped up enforcement. As a result, they caught 124 people in 33 cases, referred 44 to prosecutors and detained five. Investigations into 76 people are ongoing.

In Gangwon Province, three people including a public official were caught after the official ran an environmental services company under a borrowed name while concealing the arrangement from the local government and signed a private contract worth 55 million won ($39,600) to supply insect repellent.

Complaints, criminal reports and petitions triggered investigations involving 855 people, or 45.9%, the largest share, followed by referrals and investigation requests from government agencies involving 552 people, or 29.6%. Police said confessions and tips from insiders, along with complaints filed by agencies that had obtained administrative and audit records, served as key investigative leads.

Police will continue the special crackdown through Oct. 31 and plan to launch a second phase, dubbed "Special Crackdown on Local Collusive Corruption 2.0," in November after analyzing the results. Special performance awards will be given for outstanding investigations, and cooperation with related agencies will be strengthened.

"Entrenched local corruption, including rule-breaking and privilege in local administration, is a serious crime that destroys fairness in local communities and residents' trust in national policy," said Hong Seok-ki, head of the National Office of Investigation. "We will trace the links of corruption to the end and punish them severely so that local collusive corruption has no place to take root."