Police Investigating 305 Election Offenders Ahead of June 3 Local Elections... "Black Propaganda Most Common"

Preliminary Investigation Launched into Two "Private Retaliation-for-Hire" Companies

The police are currently investigating 305 individuals in connection with the 9th nationwide local elections. They have also launched a preliminary investigation—prior to formal charges—into two companies suspected of having the potential to commit the recently controversial "private retaliation-for-hire" crimes.

Yonhap News Agency

Jungbo Park, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated at a regular press briefing on the 18th, "So far, there have been a total of 154 cases of election-related offenses, of which 12 have been closed; we are currently investigating 142 cases involving 305 individuals." He added, "By type, black propaganda is the most common. While we expected many new types of election crimes using artificial intelligence (AI), there are currently about five cases involving AI under investigation."

Starting on May 21, the police plan to set up election security situation rooms operating 24 hours a day at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and at each police station. These will operate separately from the existing election investigation situation rooms and will be responsible for protecting candidates, crowd management, and security at polling and vote-counting stations. Commissioner Park emphasized, "Election crimes are acts that undermine the very foundation of democracy," adding, "We will conduct fair and thorough investigations to ensure accountability even after the election is over."

Regarding the "private retaliation-for-hire" crimes that have been spreading online, especially through social networking services (SNS), Commissioner Park mentioned that the Seoul Metropolitan Police's Metropolitan Investigation Unit is leading the probe. These groups accepted money to carry out private sanctions, such as throwing filth. In this process, the police determined that two companies—one operating as an errand agency and the other as a private investigation agency—had a realistic potential to commit actual crimes, and have thus launched a preliminary investigation before formal charges.

Previously, the police had been investigating circumstances in which private retaliation-for-hire organizations had illegally obtained personal information from financial institutions and public agencies. On April 24, the Yangcheon Police Station in Seoul executed search and seizure warrants on about 40 institutions, including commercial banks, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as well as delivery and logistics companies. On April 29, the case was transferred to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit.

Commissioner Park stated, "We consider not only those who post advertisements for private retaliation-for-hire, but also information providers, perpetrators, and clients to all be accomplices," adding, "We will also regard clients as members of a criminal organization and thoroughly investigate them."

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