Eighty Elected Politicians Charged

Of the 273 winners in this month's general election, 80 are now under investigation for suspected election law violations. Prosecutor-General Park Soon-yong, at a briefing held by the Ministry of Justice, reported that as of April 19, 1,643 people had been charged with election-related violations including 80 people recently elected to the National Assembly.

Park stated that the prosecution hopes to complete its investigation of the primary suspects before the opening of the National Assembly. He added that the prosecution plans to cooperate with the courts, so that those charged will receive harsh sentences. He went on to note that if it is discovered that the overall results of the election were brought about by illegal election activities, then the entire election will be deemed "invalid".

Charges of illegal election activity include but are not limited to 608 charges of bribery through money and goods, 351 charges of illegal "advertising", and 238 charges of slander. Charges of illegal election activity (there were 1,643 in the 16th general election) are up 58.3 percent from the 15th general election.

Three-hundred and eight politicians from the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), 274 from the Grand National Party (GNP), 155 from the United Liberal Democrats (ULD), 6 independent candidates, and 906 others not candidates themselves but related to the campaigns have been charged.

by Choi Jae-hee