Former Korea Forest Service chief charged in DUI crash injuring 15 people
A former head of South Korea’s Korea Forest Service has been forwarded to prosecutors on charges related to a drunk-driving incident, with police saying he caused injuries in a traffic crash. Kim In-ho, who led the agency for about six months, was dismissed from his post earlier this year amid the controversy.
The incident occurred in Bundang District of Seongnam, a city in Gyeonggi Province near Seoul, on the night of the 20th of last month at about 10:50 p.m. Kim was driving his own car in a state close to license suspension, ran a red light, and collided with an SUV and then a bus. A total of 15 people were injured, with five victims receiving injuries estimated to require two to three weeks of medical treatment.
Police said Kim told investigators that he had drank in Jeongja-dong and drove about 1 kilometer afterward. He was charged with violating the Road Traffic Act due to driving under the influence and with injuries under the Traffic Accident Handling Special Act, and was sent to the state prosecutor’s office without being detained.
Kim was dismissed from the post six months after his appointment, on the 21st of last month, following the public controversy over the drunk-driving case. He had been named head of the Korea Forest Service by the administration that took office last year. Before that posting, he had served as a professor in environmental landscaping at Shingu University and held roles in the ruling party, including deputy chair of the Policy Committee and director of the Environmental Education Innovation Institute.
The Korea Forest Service, under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, oversees forestry policy, wildfire prevention, and related climate-resilience initiatives. The case involving its former chief raises questions about leadership accountability in government agencies and the handling of public-safety violations at high levels of the civil service.
For U.S. readers, the episode matters because South Korea is a key partner in climate policy, technology collaboration, and global supply chains tied to forestry, natural resources, and environmental innovation. Public trust in regulatory and environmental agencies can influence bilateral cooperation on green technology, carbon-management programs, and trade in forest-derived materials and products. It also underscores how governance and ethics cases in Seoul can affect international perceptions of Korea’s governance and policy stability.