'Violation of Election Law' Former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo Indicted... Money Given in Exchange for False Media Reports

Ahn Sang-soo, Former Mayor of Incheon

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo has been indicted for allegedly giving money to the head of a public relations agency during last year's People Power Party presidential primary to provide false information to the media.

The Criminal Division 6 of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-oh) announced on the 22nd that Ahn and one other person were indicted without detention on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

Ahn is accused of handing over 113 million won to Mr. A (50), the head of a public relations agency, from June last year to January this year during the People Power Party presidential primary.

Mr. A claimed to have been in charge of publicity for Representative Yoon Sang-hyun, who was an independent (now People Power Party) and a rival candidate to Ahn in the April 15, 2020 general election.

Investigations revealed that Ahn, along with his aide Mr. B (54), instructed Mr. A to provide a broadcasting company with reports of misconduct related to Representative Yoon.

Mr. A and Mr. B submitted false reports to the broadcasting company to create a sympathetic public opinion that "Ahn lost the election unfairly due to manipulation of public opinion by Yoon's election camp during the 2020 general election."

In fact, on October 6 last year, the first day of the second preliminary primary vote, the broadcasting company aired a six-minute report alleging that Yoon's election camp manipulated public opinion through so-called "macro operations" (programs that repeatedly perform specific tasks on a computer) during the 2020 general election.

The day after the broadcast, Ahn held a press conference at the National Assembly, appealing for support in the party's preliminary primary by stating, "I lost unfairly in the general election."

However, the prosecution's investigation confirmed that the media report alleging manipulation of public opinion by Yoon's election camp through macro operations was based on false information provided by Mr. A.

Mr. A and Mr. B were arrested and indicted in February in connection with this case, while Ahn's arrest warrant was dismissed on the 15th.

Ahn denied the charges, stating, "I do not know if the act itself was illegal, but it seems that someone around me was deceived. I was not involved."

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