Im Jong-seok "Investigation of Former President Moon over Election Interference Verdict? It's Like a Crow Flew and a Chestnut Fell..."

"All Charges of Candidate Bribery and Policy Support Are Not Guilty"
"Is Simple Transfer Abuse of Power? Need to Seek Court Judgment"

Former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok criticized Kim Ki-hyun, the leader of the People Power Party, who called for investigations into former President Moon Jae-in and others in relation to the first trial ruling on interference in the Ulsan mayoral election, saying, "No one has ever expressed neutrality and caution as repeatedly and strictly as we did under the president's orders during local elections," and added, "Is it right to keep claiming a coincidence like 'the crow flies and the pear falls'?"

In an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the same day, former Chief of Staff Im downplayed Kim's remarks, saying, "Since it’s a politician’s statement, I can let it slide, but to unnecessarily involve former President Moon and claim there was organized election interference is excessive and seems like too much self-love."

Former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok. [Photo by Yonhap News]

He further drew a line, stating, "If you look at the case briefly, the parts about bribing candidates or policy backing were all acquitted, so Kim’s claims are too excessive."

Former Chief of Staff Im said, "The remaining issue is that a civil affairs officer at the Blue House at the time reported misconduct and intelligence about Kim Ki-hyun’s then-chief of staff to Baek Won-woo (Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary), who passed it on to the anti-corruption office, and the anti-corruption office referred it to the Special Investigation Division of the relevant police agency. That’s all," adding, "During this trial process, nothing has emerged to show there was any planning or conspiracy, and the court saw the act itself as an abuse of power."

He continued, "This is a matter that will need to be reviewed twice or thrice by the courts going forward. It was simply a referral to the relevant agency, but even that was judged as abuse of power, so we need further court rulings," and added, "If this is not established in the future, any administration will inevitably face confusion. Shouldn’t corruption among high-ranking officials be eradicated?"

The Ulsan mayoral election interference case involves allegations that before the 2018 local elections, the Blue House systematically intervened to help Song Cheol-ho, a longtime friend of former President Moon, win the Ulsan mayoral election, violating the Public Official Election Act.

The day before, the court sentenced former Mayor Song and Hwang Un-ha, then chief of the Ulsan Police Agency and now a Democratic Party lawmaker, to prison terms. The court also recognized charges of violating the Public Official Election Act against Baek Won-woo, former secretary, and Park Hyung-cheol, former anti-corruption secretary, key aides in the Blue House Civil Affairs Office at the time.

In response, Kim Ki-hyun held a press conference on the same day, urging investigations into former President Moon, former Chief of Staff Im, former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, and others, saying, "Before it’s too late, investigations into former President Moon Jae-in, who had his investigation halted, as well as Im Jong-seok and Cho Kuk, must be resumed."

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