The former head of the only Korean casino at which locals are allowed to gamble, Kangwon Land, has been sentenced to three years in prison for illegally hiring hundreds of staff via political and internal connections.
As reported by South Korean news agency Yonhap, Choi Hung-jib was found guilty by the Chuncheon District Court on Tuesday of instructing officials to adjust job assessments to ensure candidates linked to high-profile politicians would be hired for positions at Kangwon Land.
Choi was immediately remanded in custody following the ruling.
Two leading members of South Korea’s opposition Liberty Korea Party, Kweon Seong-dong and Yeom Dong-yeol, were indicted last July for their part in the major corruption scandal, which took place between November 2012 and April 2013. The duo is said to have influenced the hiring of 50 trainees between them.
Kangwon Land issued a statement last September in which it admitted that from 2012 to 2013 it had hired 518 people of which 493 of them – around 95% – were appointed due to connections with various “influential people.”
The corruption was originally uncovered in 2015 but the case was quickly closed that same year with only Choi and one other employee indicted.
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