South Korean court upholds demotion of police chief over family's fake employment

A South Korean court has upheld the disciplinary demotion and heavy fine imposed on a former police chief who orchestrated false employment for his family members. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled that the official's actions to fabricate work experience for his two sons and his spouse were illegal.

Investigations revealed that the former chief, a senior official who had served as a police station chief, requested acquaintances to register his sons as employees at their companies despite them not actually working there. One son reportedly used this fraudulent experience to secure employment at another firm. Furthermore, the official was found to have facilitated embezzlement by providing his sons' bank accounts and debit cards to company representatives, who used the funds at his request.

The court also recognized approximately 24 million won in social insurance premiums paid by the companies on behalf of the family as economic benefits gained by the official. Consequently, the court affirmed the demotion and the imposition of a 73 million won disciplinary fine, which is triple the amount of the social insurance benefits. The official has filed an appeal against the ruling.