After 58 days as a runaway, the former Yeosu mayor, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued on charges of receiving bribes since June 18, voluntarily turned himself in to police in Seoul yesterday.
Oh Hyun-seop, 60, the former mayor of Yeosu, South Jeolla, was suspected of receiving bribes from subcontractors during his term (2006-2010) in conjunction with preparation for the EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea. Oh is being questioned by a special investigation team of the National Police Agency in Seodaemun District, Seoul, and was questioned about the bribery charges yesterday.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
After two months on the run, former Yeosu mayor turns himself in.
Oh Hyun-seop, mayor of Yeosu from 2006 to early-2010, turned himself into police on Wednesday, writes the JoongAng Daily, after two months on the run from charges of corruption leading up to the 2012 Yeosu Expo.
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7 comments:
Kinda strange how it took 58 days to catch him and only after he turned himself in. Looks bad for the police but I suppose once you hit rock bottom you can't go down any further...
*Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!* That wasn't too smart of him, now was it? He should have turned himself in immediately. Now he has to wait a while for the next presidential pardon-palooza.
Mark, how could the police have done any better? If you use cash and have the entire country to hide and hole up somewhere, it's pretty easy to evade people looking for you. I'm assuming, as a former-mayor, the man had oodles of cash available to himself before he took off. It's even easier if you have someone, or multiple someones, helping you.
Of course, if he had left the country, he would have been free and clear. Just ask Kim Woo-choong about how even Interpol couldn't find him or catch him. The only reason he got "caught" was because he came back to Korea.
Darth, well...hiding is one thing but a mayor? I suppose it's possible to hide and hide well. I don't think very highly of the police forces here and I suppose that biased my post a bit.
Makes you wonder if a foreigner could pull that off here though...
Depends where one goes. I would think as long as you can live in the countryside and don't need city comforts, especially on the other side of the country, you could do it.
As for a mayor hiding, I bet a mayor of Yeosu is not very well-known among the citizens of, say, Wonju or Chuncheon (clear across the country from Yeosu in another smallish-sized town)
A mayor of Seoul or Busan would probably not be able to get away with it, though, as they're probably recognizable across the country.
PS- I don't think much of policing here, either, but I try to give them the benefit of the doubt in each case until they do something to fuck it up.
Yeah I suppose you are right. The police here though, honestly...they've done too many screw-ups to be given the benefit of the doubt. I wonder what made the ex mayor turn in? And what will happen to him afterwards?
I won't speculate what made him turn himself in, but he'll be pardoned come next Aug.15, if not during the New Year parade of pardons.
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