Police Accelerate Election Law Cases for 20s Presidential Election Nearing Statute of Limitations... Progressively Concluding

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The police appear to be accelerating the handling of violations of the Public Official Election Act related to the 20th presidential election, as the statute of limitations approaches.

According to the police on the 27th, the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency recently decided not to prosecute President Yoon Seok-yeol on charges of abuse of authority and spreading false information under the Public Official Election Act, for which he was reported in February this year. The case centers on allegations that President Yoon, during his tenure as Prosecutor General, instructed the investigation team to probe former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk’s family and made statements implying corruption in the Moon Jae-in administration during his presidential campaign. The police reportedly judged that there was insufficient evidence to support these allegations.

The police also decided not to prosecute the case in which Lee Jae-myung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, was reported for allegedly making false explanations while clarifying the so-called 'impersonation of a prosecutor incident' during the last presidential election, determining that it did not constitute a violation of the election law. Earlier, in February during the presidential election period, Lee explained that he was judged to have aided impersonation of a prosecutor simply by answering questions posed by a PD from a broadcasting station while clarifying his prior record related to the 'impersonation of a prosecutor incident.' In response, the PD reported Lee for violating the Public Official Election Act and defamation, claiming that Lee lied and damaged his reputation. However, the police plan to continue investigating the defamation charges filed by the PD.

The police also decided not to prosecute 66 members of the People Power Party who were reported for raising allegations of admission irregularities involving Lee’s eldest son during the presidential election. In December last year, these members raised suspicions of 'fraudulent admission,' questioning the fact that Lee’s eldest son was admitted to Korea University through a special early admission process. However, it was later revealed that Lee’s son had applied through the regular admission process, leading to the withdrawal of the allegations. At that time, the Democratic Party’s election campaign legal support team reported the members, stating that they had misled the public by suggesting that Lee’s son had received special treatment as a repeat applicant without minimal verification.

Regarding Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong and his spouse, who were reported by civic groups for violating the Public Official Election Act and defamation by calling Lee a 'sociopath' during the presidential election, the police also decided not to prosecute due to insufficient evidence. The police forwarded lawyer Jang Young-ha, who raised allegations of Lee’s involvement with organized crime, to the prosecution without detention on charges of spreading false information under the Public Official Election Act. It is reported that the police judged, as the Democratic Party alleged, that Jang distributed false information with the intent to prevent Lee, a presidential candidate last year, from winning.

Investigations are ongoing regarding allegations of 'private use of corporate credit cards' involving Lee’s wife, Kim Hye-kyung. The police summoned Kim as a suspect on the 23rd and questioned her for about five hours. A decision on whether to forward the case is expected soon.

The police concluded the investigation with no charges against First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon, who was reported for allegedly attempting to bribe reporter Lee Myung-soo of the internet media outlet 'Seoul's Voice' with money (bribery of a media organization under the Public Official Election Act), citing lack of concrete evidence. Additionally, the case in which Lee was reported by the People Power Party for secretly recording conversations with the First Lady was forwarded to the prosecution on charges of violating the Communications Privacy Protection Act, while charges of trespassing and violating the Public Official Election Act were dismissed. From July last year, Lee recorded conversations with the First Lady 52 times over six months and handed them over to MBC for reporting purposes.

The statute of limitations for violations of the Public Official Election Act related to the 20th presidential election expires on the 9th of next month, six months after the election day. Earlier, Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun stated at a recent press conference, "We are conducting the investigation in consultation with the prosecution and will ensure that no cases go uninvestigated due to the statute of limitations."

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