Presidential Election Flooded with Lawsuits and Complaints... 500 People Booked in One Week

Police Agency Election Offenders and Intensive Crackdown
77.5% Involve Spreading False Information

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Ahead of the 20th presidential election (March 9), the 'verification disputes' over each presidential candidate are intensifying. As lawsuits and complaints continue to be filed, related cases are steadily accumulating at the police. With the negative disputes escalating into lawsuits and complaints in the final stages of the election, police investigations are expected to intensify after the election.

According to the police on the 28th, as a result of the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters' focused crackdown on election-related crimes starting from the 15th, 542 election offenders were booked within a week, of which 16 were handed over to the prosecution. Investigations are ongoing for the remaining individuals, and given the considerable number of cases filed afterward, the total number is expected to have increased as of now. Notably, as of last week, 420 cases involved the dissemination of false information, accounting for 77.5% of all election-related offenses, an overwhelmingly high proportion. This is interpreted as reflecting the widespread stance of wanting to verify political issues through investigative authorities ahead of the election.

The parties filing lawsuits and complaints are mainly civic groups with opposing political orientations. The Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has received a series of cases related to Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, filed by civic groups. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency has received numerous complaints related to Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. Most of these cases were filed within a day or two after raising suspicions based on debates between presidential candidates, individual press conferences, or media reports.

From the investigative agencies' perspective, once a lawsuit or complaint is received, unless there are grounds for dismissal, an investigation must commence after booking the case. For this reason, some criticize that criminal complaints are excessively filed during elections to gain an advantage in public opinion battles. This election is also seen as a continuation of that trend. Moreover, as the election approaches its final stages, sharp negative disputes are occurring under the pretext of verification, so the number of lawsuits and complaints is expected to increase further.

In response to the politically motivated intensification of lawsuits and complaints ahead of the election, the police have also announced their own response policy. Choi Seung-ryeol, chief of the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency, where cases related to candidate Lee are concentrated, stated at his first press briefing after taking office, "We will not do anything that could influence the election," and "Investigations will focus on after the election, regardless of which candidate it concerns." This indicates the police's intention to avoid any actions that could cause misunderstandings about their neutrality during the election.

Accordingly, investigations into lawsuits and complaints surrounding presidential candidates are expected to accelerate after the election. Among these, in cases of election law violations, the statute of limitations is six months from the election day under current law, so investigations are expected to be completed by September. The police have been conducting focused crackdowns on election offenders since the start of election campaigning on the 15th. The police stated they will "investigate election-related crimes fairly and neutrally."

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