"Must Vote This Time" Apartment Announcement Controversy... Police Conclude No Charges

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] On the day of the April 7 by-election, an incident in an apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul, where an announcement urging "Be sure to vote this time" was made, was closed without charges after some residents reported that the word 'this time' sounded like 'candidate number 2.'

According to the police on the 5th, the Seocho Police Station decided not to prosecute the resident representative and the manager of apartment A in Umyeon-dong, Seocho-gu, who were suspected of violating the Public Official Election Act.

At around 10 a.m. on April 7, apartment A broadcasted an announcement saying, "Please be sure to vote this time and show the strength of apartment A. You must vote this time to show the will of our residents." It was confirmed that the management office, at the request of the resident representative, used a program that converts text entered into a computer into voice for the broadcast.

Immediately after the broadcast, a 112 report was filed with the police, claiming that the expression 'this time' sounded like a call to vote for candidate number 2, Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party at the time, suggesting a possible violation of election law. Members of the Seocho District Council from the Democratic Party of Korea also requested the Seocho District Election Commission to review the legality based on residents' reports. The Seocho District Election Commission reportedly stated that it was difficult to determine whether it was a violation of election law and left the decision on applying charges to the police.

A police official said, "We judged that there was no intent in the act of making the announcement at that time," and added, "After consulting with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, we reviewed the case and reached a conclusion."

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