Educator accused of ethical lapses By Kim Bo-eun  Moon Yong-lin Moon Yong-lin, the leading contender for Seoul’s top education post, is facing mounting criticism because he worked as a director for the nation’s largest private education company for over 10 years. According to sources from the Supreme Court and Seoul National University, Moon served as a director of the Daekyo Culture Foundation, run by the private education firm Daekyo Group since 2000 until August this year. Critics are questioning his ethics, charging that he is not appropriate for a position that is in charge of strengthening public education. Moon, a conservative, is one of five candidates contending for the post of superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, to succeed Kwak No-hyun, who was removed after being convicted of bribery. The by-election will be held on the same day as the presidential vote on Dec. 19. Moon also served as head of the advisory committee of the Korea Scout Association, where Daekyo Chairman Kang Young-joong is serving as president. Safe Kids Korea, of which Moon is a co-head, was funded by the company when it was established in 2001. The 64-year-old has assumed several research projects financed by the education firm. Daegyo provided 50 million won for a research project on setting up an evaluation system for reading in 2010, which was led by Moon. The candidate has also been found to be a member of a golf club run by an affiliate of the Daekyo Group. His membership to the “Midus Vally” golf club is worth 153 million won. During a television debate between the five candidates held Thursday, independent candidate Nam Seung-hee asked for an explanation from Moon, saying “If candidate Moon had truly been involved with the private education company, this would raise doubts about the candidate’s basic morals.” Choi Myung-bok, another independent runner, said “I am concerned that a bad precedent will reoccur — former superintendent Gong Jeong-taek had to step down due to his ties and irregularities involving private education firms.”