Kang Kiyun's Camp Urges Song Sunho to Stop Distorting Election Commission Results and Threatening Citizens

The campaign team for Kang Kiyun, the People Power Party candidate for Changwon Special Mayor in South Gyeongsang Province, strongly condemned Song Sunho’s camp for continuously attacking over the ‘Namdong Power investigation request’ allegations.

On May 18, Cho Cheongrae, co-chair of the campaign committee, held a press conference at the city hall press center and stated, “We strongly condemn the election manipulation by Song Sunho’s camp, which distorts the results of the National Election Commission and threatens citizens by mentioning a so-called ‘heavy fine bomb.’”

Co-chair Cho said, “According to media reports, the Gyeongnam Election Commission stated that after a thorough investigation, they found no evidence that would constitute a crime, such as pre-election campaigning by candidate Kang, and therefore ultimately excluded him from referral for investigation. Nevertheless, the Democratic Party’s Song Sunho campaign belittled the Election Commission’s legitimate decision as merely a stopgap measure, and spread a false narrative that is not even supported by the law.”

He continued, “Despite the Election Commission’s findings that the candidate was not even subject to referral, Song’s camp is creating indiscriminate fear among Changwon citizens by claiming that they will face massive fines. This behavior, which ignores even the most basic administrative and legal procedures and requirements and irresponsibly talks about fines, is nothing more than intimidation of citizens.”

He further stated, “Song’s camp argued that Articles 114 and 257 of the Public Official Election Act do not stipulate punishment for organizations or corporations. If the Election Commission has clearly confirmed that it found no evidence of a crime for candidate Kang, an individual, and excluded him from the investigation, does this not prove that he is a clean candidate who is completely outside the category of individuals subject to punishment?”

Jo Cheongrae and Kang Gi-yoon, co-chairs of the People Power Party Changwon mayoral candidate election campaign committee, are holding a press conference.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

Cho pointed out, “Claiming that candidate Kang cannot avoid punishment just because someone else was referred for investigation is a shameful reversal of logic that even overturns the legal principles they themselves documented, and is an unreasonable argument.”

He reiterated, “How can it be false information to use the term ‘no charges’—the most intuitive term for ordinary voters—to describe the core fact that the Election Commission found no evidence of a crime and excluded candidate Kang from the investigation?”

He went on to say, “We will not stand by as the Democratic Party attempts impure election manipulation that defames the candidate’s reputation and deceives the citizens of Changwon. We will hold all those involved, including those behind the political schemes and those directly responsible, fully accountable under the Public Official Election Act for spreading false information and the crime of false accusation, as well as civil and criminal liability.”

He also stated, “We did not prejudge whether candidate Kang is guilty or not, but simply conveyed the Election Commission’s findings. We used easy-to-understand terms for voters, as ‘no evidence of a charge’ means there are no charges.”

Previously, the Gyeongnam Election Commission requested a prosecution investigation into allegations that Korea South-East Power was mobilized for Kang’s pre-election campaigning during his tenure as CEO.

The Election Commission is known to have investigated after receiving reports that, from November 2024 to February this year, Korea South-East Power provided meals and gifts to members of local volunteer groups visiting the company—suspected as pre-election campaigning to voters in the district where Kang planned to run.

During this process, the Election Commission conducted a written inquiry with candidate Kang but found no evidence that he directed such activities or that any actions constituted a crime, and thus excluded him from the referral for investigation.

In response, Kang’s campaign team emphasized that this proves candidate Kang’s innocence regarding the pre-election campaigning allegations and stressed that there are no charges against him.

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