Seoul District Councilor Formerly of People Power Party Files Complaint Over 'Lee Nak-yeon Camp Comment Manipulation Allegations'

Seoul Seocho-gu Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office building exterior
[Photo by Yonhap News]

A Seoul district councilor from the People Power Party filed a complaint with the prosecution on the 7th, alleging manipulation of public opinion during the 2021 Democratic Party presidential primary, accusing former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon and members of his campaign.

Councilor Kim Min-seok held a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office that afternoon, announcing that he was filing charges against former leader Lee and his campaign staff for "obstruction of business using computers, etc." Kim stated, “Around March to April, I received a tip and related materials from Mr. A, who said he worked for the Democratic Party and that the party was manipulating public opinion through macros.” He submitted the complaint along with related documents and video evidence stored on a USB to the prosecution.

Kim explained that the documents contain evidence that comments favorable to former leader Lee Nak-yeon or unfavorable to leader Lee Jae-myung were made into 'best comments' during the primary. Approximately 90 IDs were mobilized from September 2020 to October 2021, and there are 36 video evidences supporting these circumstances, according to Kim.

Lee Jae-myung was also named as a defendant. Kim explained, "Since it is presumed to have been done at the Democratic Party level, the party leader was also included." Kim claimed, "The defendants wrote comments through the Daum portal news, manipulated the number of likes using macros to make them best comments, thereby manipulating public opinion," calling it "an act that regresses democracy."

Yoon Young-chan, who served as the political affairs chief of Lee Nak-yeon's campaign, responded to related reports the previous day by calling them "absurd false articles" and stating, "We will take all legal actions."

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