The Election Commission: "Investigation on Asset Omission Before Statute of Limitations (October 15) Completed... Considering Referral for Prosecution"

Whether an Election Law Violation Constitutes a Crime Depends on Intentionality

Kim Hong-gul, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending and speaking at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The National Election Commission has decided to complete its investigation into the property declaration omissions by Kim Hong-gul of the Democratic Party and Cho Soo-jin of the People Power Party by June 15, the statute of limitations deadline. They will examine whether there was intentional wrongdoing and consider whether to file charges or request an investigation.

On the 10th, a National Election Commission official stated, "Since we are currently verifying the facts, it is difficult to say what actions will be taken," adding, "The Election Commission does not have substantial authority, so we will investigate the intentionality to the extent possible and, if necessary, hand the matter over to the authorities. We plan to complete this before the statute of limitations expires." The statute of limitations under election law is six months from the election date.

He continued, "Crimes under election law are based on falsehoods, that is, intentionality. To file charges, there must be some evidence or testimony that can prove the criminal suspicion to some extent, and if unclear, a request for investigation may be made."

Filing charges is a kind of obligation based on the judgment that a crime has occurred, whereas a request for investigation can be seen as a tip-off asking for the truth to be clarified. Controversy has arisen over cases where the property declared to the Election Commission during the general election was significantly less than the property registered with the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee after becoming a member of the National Assembly. Kim omitted a property right worth around 1 billion KRW but claimed, "I do not manage my own property and did not know that the property right was subject to declaration." In Cho’s case, after it was revealed that about 1.1 billion KRW in deposits and bonds were omitted, she said, "There was a mistake during the declaration process."

Article 250 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that if a candidate falsely announces their property or other information "for the purpose of being elected or causing election," they may be punished by imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.

On the previous day, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy commented, "The scale and details of the omissions by the two lawmakers are not at a level that can be considered mere mistakes or simple omissions. This violates Article 250 of the Public Official Election Act," and urged, "The National Election Commission should file charges for violations of the Public Official Election Act. Additionally, the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee should start a full investigation and review of all lawmakers’ property registrations."

They also pointed out that during the 18th National Assembly, former lawmaker Jung Guk-kyo was fined 10 million KRW for false property declaration and was disqualified from office. People’s Solidarity said, "Which voter could agree with the explanation that over 1 billion KRW of personal property was ‘omitted by mistake’? The two lawmakers should take responsibility, apologize to the public, and cooperate with legal proceedings."

Meanwhile, Cho has launched a counterattack, claiming that many ruling party lawmakers also have problems with their property declarations. On the previous day, she posted on Facebook, "Several legal professionals have informed our office staff that they have reported ruling party and ruling party ‘second-string’ lawmakers to the Election Commission," adding, "When comparing the general election campaign materials and the recent public official property declarations of ruling party district lawmakers, suspicious changes in real estate have been found. Issues such as omitted leasehold rights, unreported real estate, unreported deposits in their names, and unreported unlisted stocks have been observed."

She directly named Democratic Party lawmakers Lee Kwang-jae, Lee Sang-jik, Kim Hoe-jae, Choi Ki-sang, Moon Jin-seok, and Heo Young. These lawmakers dismissed the claims, explaining that the changes were due to reasons such as the valuation standard for unlisted stocks changing from face value to market price, or the inclusion of parental property that the Election Commission had excluded during candidacy, and that there was no violation of regulations. Some cases involved adding properties due to lease contracts made before and after the general election.

Lawmaker Kim Hoe-jae criticized, "I lived in Yeosu on a monthly rent before the election and moved to a jeonse lease after being elected as a member of the National Assembly. Cho Soo-jin’s claim that there are suspicious changes in my property declaration process is a clear falsehood," adding, "Trying to tarnish others to cover one’s own mistakes is not the image of a lawmaker that the public wants."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.