South Chungcheong education chief cleared of false-statement allegation

Chungcheongbuk-do Education Superintendent Yoon Geon-young has been cleared of allegations that he publicized false information during a legally mandated election debate. Cheongju Sangdang Police decided not to forward the case after reviewing the complaint and related materials.

The complaint arose from remarks Yoon made at a debate hosted by the Chungcheongbuk-do Election Broadcasting Debate Commission on May 28. Discussing conservative candidate coordination in the 2022 education superintendent election, he said, in substance, that he had never used the term “conservative single candidacy.”

The complainant argued that the statement was false because Yoon had become the unified candidate after Kim Jin-gyun withdrew and had referred to himself as the “conservative unified candidate.” Police nevertheless concluded that it was difficult to recognize Yoon’s remarks as the publication of false information under the Public Official Election Act.