[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Two Incheon city council members have been indicted for accepting bribes in connection with a scheme involving the supply of electronic whiteboards to schools, prosecutors announced Thursday.


The Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office’s Criminal Division 6 (led by chief prosecutor Choi Jong-pil) said Councilor Shin Chung-sik (51) has been indicted and detained on bribery charges, while Company A’s CEO—the supplier of the smartboards—was also detained and charged with offering bribes. Another council member, Jo Hyun-young (50), along with two others, has been indicted without detention.



According to the investigation, Shin and others received approximately ₩1.6 billion (approx. USD 1.2 million) in kickbacks from Company A. The bribes were allegedly given in return for facilitating the supply of smartboards to schools as part of a project run by the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education.



Prosecutors say the bribes amounted to around 20% of the total value of the supplied goods. As chair and vice chair of the city council's education committee at the time, Shin and Jo allegedly pressured the education office to include the smartboard budget in official proposals, ensuring it passed through the city council.



As a result of their actions, Company A was reportedly able to secure ₩2 billion (approx. USD 1.5 million) worth of contracts to supply smartboards to 22 schools.



Councilor Jo, who was detained alongside Shin, was released on bail through a detention review process on April 16.



This scandal has sparked renewed concerns about corruption and abuse of influence in public procurement involving local education authorities.

 

 

 

 

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