ID :
24462
Tue, 10/14/2008 - 18:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/24462
The shortlink copeid
Seoul education chief under fire over dubious campaign donations
SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- A wave of public criticism swept over Seoul's education chief on Tuesday after he was found to have received questionable donations from school meal agencies to fund his election campaign amid increasing concerns of food safety.
Kong Jeong-taek, who was reelected in July as superintendent of the Seoul
Metropolitan Office of Education, has recently fallen from grace after his
campaign was found to have been largely funded by interest groups ranging from
private institutes to private school owners.
For the conservative education chief, the latest revelation that his funding
involved school meal services delivered the biggest blow to his credibility as it
comes amid growing skepticism of food safety standards. Calls mounted for him to
resign.
"Parents are angry because the issue directly concerns children's health," Jeon
Eun-ja, a director of Parents' Association for Equal Education, said. "Even
though he says he didn't know, what percent of Seoul citizens will actually
believe that?"
The Seoul education office acknowledged that three private school meal agencies
provided 1 million won (US$830) each for Kong's campaign, but denied any
possibility of business favors as the donations were made under the name of the
agencies' heads and not the agencies themselves.
Prosecutors are investigating Kong's election funding, up to 80 percent of which
is assumed to have come from dubious sources. Other controversial benefactors
include Hana Bank CEO Kim Seung-yu, who is pushing to set up a private high
school in a redevelopment area north of Seoul and reportedly gave Kong 3 million
won for the race.
Kong's conservative supporters argue the amount of the donations are too
insignificant to draw political favors, and that the decision on meal program
management ultimately lies with each individual school and not with the
superintendent, they note.
"We have to see if there's a cause-and-effect relationship between the money
offered and any possible benefits" to contributors, said Kim Dong-seok, spokesman
for the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, a conservative umbrella
group of teachers nationwide.
"Prosecutors are investigating the case, and it's too early to judge (Kong) by
insinuations," said Kim, who wondered aloud whether "meal services would get
favors for 1 million won."
The Seoul superintendent wields ultimate power in executing the city's annual
education budget of 6 trillion won, the approval of new schools and the
supervision of 55,000 teachers and school staffers from public kindergarten to
high schools.
Critics note that unlike his provincial counterparts, Kong has been reluctant to
encourage schools to quit private services and directly manage their own meal
programs.
They say Seoul has been slow to meet requirements that all schools must switch to
directly providing meals by 2010. The regulation was legislated in the wake of a
mass food poisoning scare in 2006, when 3,000 students in 46 schools fell ill
after eating meals supplied by a private agency under the company CJ Group.
According to government data, only 52.9 percent of primary and secondary schools
in Seoul directly provides student meals, while the average for the rest of the
country is 88.4 percent.
Parents and students have called for increased scrutiny on school meal programs
following the lifting of a ban on U.S. beef imports and a recent Chinese food
scandal involving the industrial toxin melamine used for dairy products.
Even before the scandal emerged, Kong drew fierce criticism for his attempts to
increase the number of elite schools in the city such as two international middle
schools set to open next year. Critics fear his policy to enhance education
through competition will further drive up private education spending and
exacerbate the educational gap between rich and poor.
Funding scandals have already forced the resignation of two provincial
superintendents. Cho Byung-in, the superintendent of North Gyeongsang Province,
and Oh Je-jick of South Chungcheong Province announced their intention to leave
office last week amid investigations into allegations that they took bribes to
fund their campaigns.
Kong Jeong-taek, who was reelected in July as superintendent of the Seoul
Metropolitan Office of Education, has recently fallen from grace after his
campaign was found to have been largely funded by interest groups ranging from
private institutes to private school owners.
For the conservative education chief, the latest revelation that his funding
involved school meal services delivered the biggest blow to his credibility as it
comes amid growing skepticism of food safety standards. Calls mounted for him to
resign.
"Parents are angry because the issue directly concerns children's health," Jeon
Eun-ja, a director of Parents' Association for Equal Education, said. "Even
though he says he didn't know, what percent of Seoul citizens will actually
believe that?"
The Seoul education office acknowledged that three private school meal agencies
provided 1 million won (US$830) each for Kong's campaign, but denied any
possibility of business favors as the donations were made under the name of the
agencies' heads and not the agencies themselves.
Prosecutors are investigating Kong's election funding, up to 80 percent of which
is assumed to have come from dubious sources. Other controversial benefactors
include Hana Bank CEO Kim Seung-yu, who is pushing to set up a private high
school in a redevelopment area north of Seoul and reportedly gave Kong 3 million
won for the race.
Kong's conservative supporters argue the amount of the donations are too
insignificant to draw political favors, and that the decision on meal program
management ultimately lies with each individual school and not with the
superintendent, they note.
"We have to see if there's a cause-and-effect relationship between the money
offered and any possible benefits" to contributors, said Kim Dong-seok, spokesman
for the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, a conservative umbrella
group of teachers nationwide.
"Prosecutors are investigating the case, and it's too early to judge (Kong) by
insinuations," said Kim, who wondered aloud whether "meal services would get
favors for 1 million won."
The Seoul superintendent wields ultimate power in executing the city's annual
education budget of 6 trillion won, the approval of new schools and the
supervision of 55,000 teachers and school staffers from public kindergarten to
high schools.
Critics note that unlike his provincial counterparts, Kong has been reluctant to
encourage schools to quit private services and directly manage their own meal
programs.
They say Seoul has been slow to meet requirements that all schools must switch to
directly providing meals by 2010. The regulation was legislated in the wake of a
mass food poisoning scare in 2006, when 3,000 students in 46 schools fell ill
after eating meals supplied by a private agency under the company CJ Group.
According to government data, only 52.9 percent of primary and secondary schools
in Seoul directly provides student meals, while the average for the rest of the
country is 88.4 percent.
Parents and students have called for increased scrutiny on school meal programs
following the lifting of a ban on U.S. beef imports and a recent Chinese food
scandal involving the industrial toxin melamine used for dairy products.
Even before the scandal emerged, Kong drew fierce criticism for his attempts to
increase the number of elite schools in the city such as two international middle
schools set to open next year. Critics fear his policy to enhance education
through competition will further drive up private education spending and
exacerbate the educational gap between rich and poor.
Funding scandals have already forced the resignation of two provincial
superintendents. Cho Byung-in, the superintendent of North Gyeongsang Province,
and Oh Je-jick of South Chungcheong Province announced their intention to leave
office last week amid investigations into allegations that they took bribes to
fund their campaigns.
