South Korean Elections Heat Up as Candidates Clash Over Casino Allegations

Controversy over alleged casino visits is driving tensions ahead of next month’s South Korean elections.

South Korea goes to the polls for local elections on June 3. And leading candidates for the South Jeolla Province and Gwangju superintendency are now trading verbal blows, the South Korean newspaper Maeil Kyungjae reported.

The controversy first erupted during an April 17 televised debate between Kim Dae-jung, the incumbent superintendent, and his major rivals.

One of his rivals, Go Du-gap, alleged during the broadcast that Kim had been seen “loitering around a gambling den.”

Allegations about Kim allegedly visiting a casino during an overseas business trip then began to circulate in the South Korean media.

Later the same month, Kim attempted to clear the air. He said it was true that he had visited a casino, but denied claims that he had placed any wagers.

“I visited a casino attached to my hotel […] during an overseas business trip, but I did not gamble. […] I am sorry for causing concern with conduct that did not meet the expectations of the public. In the future, I will be more mindful of my conduct,” he said.

Go has since stepped aside. But he joined Lee Jeong-seon, another preliminary candidate, at a joint press conference on May 7, the South Korean media outlet News1 reported.

At the event, Lee called upon Kim to publicly declare that he would “immediately resign” from his candidacy if “even a single shred of evidence he has gambled is confirmed.”

South Korean Elections: Gambling Controversies Escalate

“The mere fact that [Kim] visited a casino during an official business trip raises serious questions regarding his moral stance as an educator,” Lee added.

“The position of Superintendent of Education demands a higher set of ethical standards,” he said. Lee added that the overseas trip had been “funded by taxpayers’ money.”

Kim’s representatives said Lee was running a “smear campaign.”

“The place that Mr. Kim visited was an amenity at the hotel where he stayed during a business trip,” said a member of Kim’s team. “Describing [Mr. Kim] as a ‘gambler’ is seriously defamatory.”

“[Mr. Kim] has already apologized for this incident,” the representative said. “He feels a deep sense of moral responsibility for even briefly visiting a hotel’s casino facility during a business trip.”

Criminal Record Reports

The Kim affair is not the only gambling-related controversy to emerge in the run-up to the June 3 poll.

In late April, South Korea’s biggest newspaper discovered that over a third of the country’s almost 7,000 preliminary local council candidates have criminal records.

The newspaper discovered that several of these candidates have been convicted of habitual gambling.

One incumbent local government politician is standing for re-election despite previously serving a three-year jail term for habitual gambling and securities fraud.