Prosecutors send YouTuber to trial for installing election spy cameras

A YouTuber accused of installing spy cameras at early voting sites ahead of the April 10 general election heads to the Incheon District Court to attend his arrest warrant hearing on March 31. [YONHAP]

Prosecutors indicted a YouTuber under charges of installing spy cameras at early voting sites nationwide ahead of the April 10 general election, the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office said Tuesday.

The 48-year-old YouTuber, who had been under detention since March 31, will be sent to trial for trespassing and violating the Protection of Communication Secret Acts.

The suspect is accused of setting up spy cameras at early voting sites from March 8 to March 28, ahead of the two-day early voting period on April 5 and April 6.

He installed the cameras at 40 early voting sites and ballot counting centers, including those in Seoul, Busan and Incheon.

Prosecutors also found that he secretly recorded conversations of public officials five times using a hidden camera set up at an early voting site.

The YouTuber mostly installed the hidden camera near a water dispenser at the voting site and is alleged to have disguised the cameras by attaching stickers of telecommunication company KT over them.

He claimed that he placed the cameras to “monitor the National Election Commission” in suspicion of it manipulating the early voting turnout.

The YouTuber is also accused of installing spy cameras and filmed the early voting site for the by-elections of Seoul’s Gangseo District last year and the presidential election in 2022.

Police arrested and sent two individuals to prosecutors who were accused of assisting the YouTuber by installing spy cameras in early voting sites in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang. They also arrested nine other alleged accomplices and are investigating them.

“The YouTuber trespassed 41 early voting centers, 40 of which had spy cameras installed,” an official from the prosecutors’ office said. “We will prepare thoroughly for his trial to ensure that he receives a punishment that fits his crime.”

The general election for the 22nd National Assembly was held on April 10 and early voting for the election was open on April 5 and April 6.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]