Kangwon Land Nepotism Scandal: South Korean Lawmaker Cleared of Corruption

A South Korean pol accused of being a major player inwards the Kangwon Din Land nepotism scandal has been cleared of all charges by the country’s Supreme Court.

Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the People Power Party was accused of pressuring Kangwon Land CEO Choi Heung-jib into hiring 11 of the politician’s associates at the state-owned casino.

Kweon was also supercharged with influence peddling for getting authorities officials to public figure a former schoolhouse friend as an alfresco theater director at the casino.

Kangwon Land, situated inwards remote uplands 80 miles from Seoul, is the country’s biggest casino. That’s assured because it’s the only cassino where South Korean citizens are permitted to gamble.

In fact, it’s the only when station inwards the world, since they are also prohibited from play inwards foreign nations, as several K-pop artists hold found come out to their cost.

Hired and Fired

Choi was sentenced to ternion years inwards prison inwards January 2019 for presiding o'er a widespread scheme of illegal hiring practices betwixt July 2011 and February 2014.

During that time, hundreds of workers were hired nepotistically and almost exclusively because they either had personal links to Choi or political ties to the then-ruling Liberty Korean Peninsula Party.

In 2017, Kangwon’s Land’s direction in public admitted and apologized for the scandal, which saw an over-the-top 95 percent of workers, or 493 people, hired illegally.

This meant that 4,786 people applied for positions at the casino, incognizant they had almost no trust of getting a job. Some hold since sued the company for damages.

We apologise for committing a offence which would get been possible only if inward the 1960s or 1970s,” the casino said, “A thing of the past is tarnishing the range of a function of Kangwon Land. It breaks the Black Maria of all employees, and we are very sorry.”

In 2018, South Korean President moon Jae-in ordered the firing of 226 employees who had been hired below dubious circumstances.

‘Not Enough Evidence’

Kweon was initially arrested on degeneracy charges inwards 2015 and later cleared. But the caseful was reopened by the Moon judicature amid claims the archetype investigating was suppressed to protect regime figures.

But the Supreme Court ruled on that point was deficient grounds to burden Kweon, and that Choi was not a credible witness.

“The egress is whether the accused has ever solicited former President Choi,” the courtroom said, as reported past the Yonhap News Agecy. “The criminal prosecution failed to establish it plenty to rule come out the [original] judge’s reasonable suspicion.”

Another People Power Party lawmaker, Yeom Dong-yeol, is awaiting visitation on similar charges.