One in four local election winners in greater Seoul has criminal record, civic group finds

Nearly one in four candidates elected in the June 3 local elections across the greater Seoul area has a criminal record, according to a civic group.

The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) released on Monday the results of its review of the criminal records of all 1,436 local election winners in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon.

Among the elected officials, 347, or 24.2 percent of the total, had a combined 530 criminal convictions, according to the report.

By region, 115 of the 580 elected officials in Seoul, or 20 percent, had criminal records. The figure was 189 of 670 winners, or 28 percent, in Gyeonggi and 43 of 186 winners, or 23 percent, in Incheon.

By elected office, 19 of the 67 elected heads of cities, counties and districts, or 28 percent, had criminal records. Among winners of metropolitan and provincial council seats, 71 of 288, or 25 percent, had criminal records, and 239 of 911 elected city, county and district council members, or 26 percent, had prior convictions.

Among proportional representation winners, five of 42 metropolitan and provincial council members, or 12 percent, had criminal records, as did 13 of 125 city, county and district council members, or 10 percent. In Korea, proportional seats are allocated to political parties in proportion to the share of votes that they receive.

None of the three elected mayors and governors in the greater Seoul area had criminal records.

Of the 223 candidates in the greater Seoul area who were elected unopposed, 43, or 19 percent, had criminal records.

“The public has the right to know the backgrounds and criminal histories of the candidates that they elect, but after an election, that information is no longer provided, making it virtually impossible to track,” CCEJ said.

The civic group also called for stricter candidate nomination standards and more transparent nomination procedures.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]