'Ulsan Election Interference' Trial Witness Kim Gi-hyeon: "Worst Plot Like the 3·15 Fraudulent Election"

Kim Ki-hyun, Floor Leader of the People Power Party Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Gi-hyun, the floor leader of the People Power Party (former mayor of Ulsan), who is the accuser and victim in the trial concerning the 'Cheongwadae Ulsan mayor election interference and directed investigation' allegations, appeared as a witness on the 15th and stated, "This is the worst election crime case in the history of the Republic of Korea that must never happen again."

At around 1:45 PM that day, Kim appeared as a witness in the trial of 13 related individuals, including Song Cheol-ho, mayor of Ulsan, and Hwang Unha, member of the Democratic Party of Korea (former chief of Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency), on charges including violation of the Public Official Election Act, held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21-3 (Presiding Judges Jang Yongbeom, Ma Seongyoung, Kim Sangyeon), and spoke to the press accordingly.

When asked about his feelings appearing as a witness 22 months after Mayor Song and others were indicted, former Mayor Kim said, "It is very regrettable that the trial of the worst rigged election crime, no different from the 3.15 fraudulent election during the Syngman Rhee regime, is delayed like this."

He said, "I will specifically explain, to the best of my knowledge, how the political police of the Ulsan Police Agency at the time took the lead and acted following Cheongwadae's orders." "Very specific instructions were issued from Cheongwadae, and I understand that progress reports on the investigation were received about ten times, and they also pressured for not cooperating actively."

Regarding the non-prosecution of former Cheongwadae Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, and former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Lee Gwang-cheol, he said, "(Our party) filed all accusations against the main culprits. Some were indicted, but some were omitted," emphasizing, "We will uncover the masterminds and main culprits and bring them to the court of history."

Earlier, the prosecution indicted 13 people in January last year, including Mayor Song, Representative Hwang, former Ulsan Deputy Mayor for Economy Song Byung-gi, former Cheongwadae Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Baek Won-woo, former Anti-Corruption Secretary Park Hyung-cheol, former Cheongwadae Political Secretary Han Byung-do, and former administrative officer of the Civil Affairs Secretary's Office Moon Mo. Additionally, in April, Lee Jin-seok, head of the Cheongwadae National Situation Room, was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

The prosecution's investigation concluded that ahead of the June 13, 2018 local elections, Cheongwadae requested investigations into Kim Gi-hyun and his associates to help the election of Mayor Song, a longtime friend of President Moon Jae-in, and provided internal information from central and local governments to Mayor Song to assist in establishing election pledges.

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