Was Children’s Science Fair Rigged?

There are still many questions surrounding the recent science fair case. Kim, a researcher at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, was arrested for entering science projects in a national science fair for children of former and present prosecutors.

It was said that around the time of Kim’s arrest on October 18, the National Police Agency (NPA) reported to Cheong Wa Dae about the possibility of past and current prosecutors being implicated. The prosecution was enraged, saying that the police were blowing the facts out of proportion to hurt the prosecution.

When was it Known that Prosecutors’ Children were Implicated? -

On November 15, the Special Investigation Division of the NPA stated, “There are no public servants under suspicion,” at the time of their announcement of investigation results. The next morning, the police explained, “We only knew about it on the afternoon of November 15,” then restated on the afternoon of November 16 that they knew right after the arrest of researcher Kim.

Because they continued flip flopping, the police were suspected of hiding known information that some of the parents were former and present prosecutors, in light of the fact that the prosecutor’s office had supervisory rights of investigations.

On November 16, one NPA official said, “[We] lied to protect the organization,” and this statement is causing much debate over its true meaning.

On November 17, a Seoul Central District Court official stated, “The Special Investigation Division of the National Police Agency already reported about former and current prosecutors to the Chief Secretary of the President for Civil Affairs in early September, when they first started the investigations.”

If that is true, that indeed the police had already reported the information to Cheong Wa Dae before the arrest of Kim, then the police explanation again appears to be a lie.

A prosecutor’s office official criticized the police saying that they had already investigated the case and reported to Cheong Wa Dae, but since they could not prove the allegations, they are now playing with the media, pretending to have been protecting the prosecution.

“Targeted” Investigation-

The police had stated that Kim confessed to entering science projects into the fair for the children of present and former prosecutors during police investigation, then retracted the statement during the prosecutor’s investigation. Meanwhile, the prosecution is stating the opposite.

According to the prosecution, Kim said that the police only focused on the parts related to the prosecutors. Also, police investigation records show that Kim’s statements had already started changing by the police investigation stage.

Nonetheless, a police agency officer indignantly have said, “We would never carry out our investigations like that. I swear on my job that it has not happened.”

This NPA official added, with regard to staying mute on the implication of former and present prosecutors, “We thought if we went public with the information without proof, the prosecution would attack the NPA.”

woogija@donga.com wing@donga.com