14.6 Pct. of Election Candidates Have Criminal Records

Of the candidates running for the April 9 general elections, 14.6 percent of them have criminal records for violations such as narcotics possession, arson, bribery and document forgery.

Their rap sheets will serve as key factors in the elections, as they will be sent to each household along with election guideline brochures.

Of the 932 registered candidates, 136 have criminal records: 93 with one conviction, 31 with two, and 12 with three.

By region, Gyeonggi Province has the most number of ex-cons running for office with 37, followed by Seoul with 31. South Chungcheong Province and North Gyeongsang Province each have only three candidates with criminal records.

By party, the liberal United Democratic Party has the most candidates with priors with 42, while the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) has only 15.

Almost half of the candidates from both the Democratic Labor Party and the New Progressive Party have criminal records. Thirty-four of 81 DLP candidates and 10 of the 23 NPP candidates have prior criminal histories.

But most such candidates from the UDP, DLP and NPP have prior records due to involvement in past labor and democratic movements. The NPP’s Park Yong-jin was sentenced to prison terms three times for taking part in student and labor movements, but was pardoned on all three occasions.

Among female candidates, Kim Hee-sun has two convictions related to taking part in civic demonstrations.

Several candidates, however, are under fire for being convicted for election crimes.

One candidate to run in Seoul was sentenced 18 months in prison with a two-year stay of execution for smoking marijuana.

Another running in South Gyeongsang Province was busted for tax evasion, obstruction of work and embezzlement. The candidate remained on probation until late last year.

One candidate running in Gyeonggi Province was sentenced to one year in prison for violating a law on public health crimes, while another candidate running in South Chungcheong Province was sentenced to one year for breaking medical law.

One independent running in South Chungcheong Province got three years and another independent in South Gyeongsang Province one year. Other candidates were charged with violating building laws, professional negligence and document forgery.

ddr@donga.com