National Investigation Headquarters launches probe into senior officers

Invitations tied to last year's FC Barcelona–FC Seoul friendly

Two senior officials reassigned amid inquiry

A poster for the FC Seoul–FC Barcelona friendly match. [Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government]
A poster for the FC Seoul–FC Barcelona friendly match. [Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government]

Thirty-three current and former senior police officials are under investigation over allegations that they received complimentary tickets to a friendly soccer match from a private company. Two senior officials of superintendent general rank have already been reassigned or placed on standby amid the probe. Investigators plan to determine whether the officials actually received the tickets and whether there was any connection to their official duties at the time.

According to police, the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters launched the investigation Thursday into the ticket-acceptance allegations involving the 33 current and former officials.

The investigation targets 28 active-duty officers and five retired officers. The Korean National Police Agency had been conducting an internal audit of the allegations since last month before concluding that a criminal investigation was warranted and referring the case to the National Investigation Headquarters on Monday.

The tickets at the center of the controversy were for a friendly match between Spanish club FC Barcelona and K League 1 side FC Seoul, held at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo-gu on July 31 last year.

Chicken franchise Genesis BBQ Group was the official sponsor of the match, which coincided with the company's 30th anniversary. The company secured about 30,000 of the stadium's 64,000 seats and used them to invite customers and franchise owners.

The controversy erupted after a guest list — believed to have been drawn up by BBQ — was found to include the names of 33 current and former senior police officials.

Police plan to verify whether the officials on the list actually received tickets and whether they attended the match. The nature of any official relationship between the company and the officers, as well as the circumstances under which the tickets were offered, will also fall under scrutiny.

A central legal question is whether accepting free tickets from a corporate sponsor constitutes a violation of the Anti-Graft Act or other relevant laws.

The Korean National Police Agency also took personnel action against two superintendent generals implicated in the allegations.

Superintendent General Son Chang-hyun, who had served as commander of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's 101st Security Unit, was transferred Friday to the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency as head of its public safety division. Son had been serving as chief of Seoul's Suseo Police Station at the time of last year's friendly.

Son has denied receiving any tickets, saying that while an invitation was extended by the match's sponsor, Son declined because it was difficult to leave the jurisdiction at the time.

Superintendent General Kim Yong-jong, formerly commander of the Incheon International Airport Police Unit, was also reassigned Thursday to the administrative affairs division of the Korean National Police Agency — a move that amounts to a standby posting. Kim had been serving as chief of Seoul's Songpa Police Station, which has jurisdiction over BBQ's headquarters, at the time of last year's match.

According to Money Today and other outlets, Kim and two other senior officers acknowledged during the internal audit that they had received tickets. Kim is reported to have accepted two premium seats, each valued at 500,000 won ($375).

However, the fact of receiving tickets and whether doing so constituted an improper benefit are separate questions. Police are expected to examine the legality of the conduct based on the relationship between the officials' duties at the time and the corporate sponsor.

Attention is also focused on whether the investigation will expand in scope, as allegations have emerged that complimentary tickets were also distributed to civil servants from other government ministries and to journalists.


kwater@heraldcorp.com