[An anti-bullying poster made for a school PSA. Photo Credit: Joon Park]

The candidate to head South Korea’s National Office of Investigation withdrew his application on the day before he was to start his two year term  due to revelations that his son repeatedly bullied a classmate for eight months in 2018. 

Prosecutor-turned-lawyer Chung Sun-sin was appointed by President Yoon Suk Yeol on February 24th to head the governmental agency in charge of commanding police investigation forces nationwide. 

According to reports, the son of Chung, who gained admission to the prestigious institution, Seoul National University (SNU), had been expelled from high school after he verbally abused a classmate for eight months. 

The incidents occurred at an elite boarding school in Gangwon Province where reports claim that  Chung’s son repeatedly verbally attacked the victim by calling him highly offensive and derogatory terms such as  "filthy pig", a “commie” and a carrier of hand, foot and mouth disease. 

Rather than accepting the decision to transfer  his son  to another school as he was the perpetrator for the school bullying, Chung filed multiple lawsuits on behalf of his son that challenged the Committee for Countermeasures against the School Violence ruling, but they were all dismissed by courts. 

As the case was dragged through the court system and even reached the Supreme Court, the victim of the school bullying suffered emotional distress and even attempted suicide. 

An internal inquiry by the boarding school also revealed that Chung's son had regularly bragged about  his father’s high-ranking as a prosecutor and that  his bullying actions would have no consequences. 

As school violence is one of the most sensitive topics in Korean society, such disclosures have quickly sparked national outrage with Kpop stars, pro athletes, celebrities, and other well-known public figures who have either had to quit their jobs or have been banned due to their unsavory past.

School bullying has frequently been the focus of  TV dramas and movies, most recently in the hit Netflix series "The Glory”. 

The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), questioned the President Yoon administration's hiring practices as the vetting process for top government posts was being handled by the Ministry of Justice rather than the presidential office, as it had been done in previous administrations. 

The job of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, which was previously in charge of screening senior government personnel, was eliminated after President Yoon assumed office and the Justice Ministry’s human resources team was subsequently established to increase the transparency of the vetting process. 

The presidential office conceded that its personnel vetting procedure had limitations in the face of mounting public outrage over Chung's nomination.

During a preliminary written interview, Chung was asked if he, his spouse, or any of their children were parties to any lawsuits or legal proceedings, but he reportedly chose not to respond.

The TV network KBS initially broke the story on the son's case in November 2018, but the broadcaster simply referred to Chung as "a senior prosecutor," withholding his name.

Chung had previously been a prosecutor for about 20 years and then served as the head of the Institute of Justice's branch in the city of Yongin.