Democratic Party Changwon City Council Youth Candidates File Complaint Against Kang Kiyun for 'Disseminating False Information'

Young candidates from the Democratic Party running for Changwon City Council in Gyeongnam have filed a police complaint against Kang Kiyun, the People Power Party’s candidate for Changwon mayor, on charges of disseminating false information.

On May 18, Democratic Party youth candidates Jin Hyungik, Ji Sangrok, Kwon Soonjae, Ryu Sungkuk, and Park Jongseo — excluding Lee Wonjoo, who could not attend due to scheduling conflicts — held a press conference at the City Hall Press Center and declared, “We can no longer tolerate the dissemination of false information by Kang’s campaign.”

Jisung Lok, Jongseo Park, Seongguk Ryu, Sunjae Kwon, and Hyeongik Jin, candidates for Changwon City Council of the Democratic Party of Korea (from left to right), are expressing their intention to submit a complaint accusing Gang Kiyun, the People Power Party candidate for Changwon Mayor, of spreading false information.

The youth candidates stated, “Even though the Gyeongsan Election Commission requested a prosecutorial investigation into alleged illegal donations by Korea South-East Power, the Kang campaign distributed press releases and card news as if Kang had been officially cleared by the commission. However, the commission has never confirmed that Kang is without suspicion.”

They continued, “Nevertheless, Kang used expressions such as ‘it has been confirmed there is no suspicion’ and ‘completely exonerated,’ misleading citizens into believing there was no wrongdoing. Claiming that he was exonerated in a matter that was under investigation constitutes a clear case of disseminating false information and misguides citizens.”

After the press conference, the youth candidates submitted a formal complaint to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, accusing Kang of disseminating false information.

Jin Hyungik, Kwon Soonjae, Park Jongseo, Ryu Seongguk, and Ji Sangrok, candidates for Changwon City Council from the Democratic Party of Korea (from left to right), visited the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency's civil affairs office to submit a complaint accusing Kang Kiyoon, candidate for Changwon mayor from the People Power Party, of disseminating false information.
[Photo by Jin Hyungik, candidate for Changwon City Council]

Previously, the Gyeongnam Election Commission investigated allegations that, from November 2024 to February this year, while Kang served as CEO, Korea South-East Power provided meals and gifts to members of volunteer groups in Changwon. This raised suspicions of preliminary electioneering targeting local voters in Kang’s anticipated constituency.

During the investigation, the commission conducted a written inquiry with Kang, but did not find evidence of Kang’s direct instructions or any actions constituting a criminal offense. As a result, Kang was excluded from the list of individuals referred for prosecution.

In response, Kang’s campaign emphasized, “Kang’s innocence has been clearly proven,” and insisted that Kang faced no charges.

Additionally, at the press conference, they stated, “How can it be false information to describe the key fact that the commission excluded Kang on the grounds that they found no evidence of a criminal offense, using the most intuitively understandable term for ordinary voters, ‘no suspicion’?” and “We are not presuming Kang’s guilt or innocence, but merely stating the commission’s findings. We believe that ‘unable to find suspicion’ is effectively equivalent to ‘no suspicion.’”

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