Prosecutors raid Presidential Archives over Ulsan election meddling in 2018

Politics

Published: 07 Mar. 2024, 16:12

Prosecutors raid Presidential Archives over Ulsan election meddling in 2018

Im Jong-seok, presidential chief of staff of the former Moon Jae-in government, left, and Cho Kuk, then-presidential secretary for civil affairs, talk to each other during a National Assembly meeting in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 31, 2018. [NEWS1]

Prosecutors on Thursday raided the Presidential Archives to reinvestigate the alleged meddling scandal in the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election.

The probe follows an order from the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office in January to conduct additional investigations into Im Jong-seok, former chief of staff, and Cho Kuk, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs.

Prosecutors and investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office searched and seized archives of the Moon Jae-in administration in Sejong to secure evidence regarding allegations that former Blue House officials intervened in the mayoral election.

The scandal centers around allegations that several top presidential aides of the Moon government, and even the Ulsan police chief, colluded to ensure the victory of the former president’s close friend, Song Cheol-ho, in the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election.

Both Im and Cho are accused of offering alternative positions to candidates to dissuade them from running in the election. Lim Dong-ho, then a member of the supreme council of the Democratic Party, was among the candidates the two possibly swayed.

The duo was also accused of tipping off and instructing the police in Ulsan to investigate then-Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon for alleged corruption. Kim, who was seeking re-election, saw his popularity decline after the investigation. The police dropped the case against Kim after finding no evidence.

Prosecutors initially indicted 13 former presidential aides and officials in January 2020 but dropped the charges against Im and Cho due to lack of evidence.

Four years later, the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office ordered prosecutors to reopen their investigations as Song and Hwang Un-ha, chief of the Ulsan police at the time of the election and later a Democratic Party lawmaker, were found guilty.

Both were sentenced to three years in prison for violating the Public Official Election Act.

“After a thorough review of existing investigation records, trial records and recent Seoul Central District Court rulings, we decided we needed additional investigations into the Ulsan police’s alleged involvement [in the election] and the alleged bribing of an Ulsan mayoral candidate, and ordered the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to conduct a new investigation,” said the Seoul Prosecutors’ Office in a statement earlier in the year.

Both Im and Cho served their position from 2017 to 2019 under the former Moon government. Cho later served as justice minister and recently founded his splinter political party ahead of the April general elections.

Those being reinvestigated also include Lee Gwang-cheol, former Blue House secretary for civil affairs and justice, and Song Byung-gi, former Ulsan vice mayor.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]