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| Kwon Eun-hee, in the left photo, a police officer who led an investigation into allegations that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) interfered in the 2012 presidential election, speaks at a press conference at Songpa Police Station, Friday. She criticized the court's acquittal of former Seoul Police Chief Kim Yong-pan, seen in the photo on the right. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
The opposition is fiercely protesting the acquittal of former Seoul police chief Kim Yong-pan, one of the key figures involved in the alleged meddling in the 2012 presidential election by the nation's spy agency.
The Seoul Central District Court found Kim innocent, Thursday, citing a lack of evidence to prove that he downsized a police investigation into allegations that agents of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) engaged in an online smear campaign against opposition presidential candidates.
On Dec. 16, just three days ahead of the election, police announced that they had found no online posts against the candidates by NIS operatives. Kim had been accused of having orchestrated the hasty announcement, which later proved to be false.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) held an emergency meeting and rally Friday, calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor to unearth the truth behind the alleged NIS scandal.
It also submitted a motion to the National Assembly calling for the dismissal of Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, saying he should take responsibility.
"The court ruling reflects that the Park Geun-hye government is attempting to erase traces of election meddling and intentionally hamper the investigation into it," the DP said in a statement.
Indicted in June for violating the Election Law and the Police Officers Law, Kim Yong-pan was charged with abusing his power to minimize the police investigation into the alleged attempts to exert influence in the presidential poll by the NIS.
President Park Geun-hye won the election by a slight margin against the DP's Moon Jae-in.
The DP argued, "The prosecution's shabby investigation came as a result of the Park government's unfair dismissal of former top prosecutor Chae Dong-wook and a change of the head of investigation team."
The party said the NIS's systematic intervention in the election was an "undeniable truth," and demanded President Park accept its request to appoint a special prosecutor, dismiss the justice minister and make an official apology.
Who's responsible?
Moon said the court's verdict left an indelible stain on the history of the judiciary, and accused the Park government of abusing its power to obstruct the investigation by the prosecution.
He was quoted by Rep. Yun Ho-jung as saying, "The court excluded testimony from Kwon Eun-hee who swore an oath to tell the truth to a National Assembly hearing, while accepting testimony from Kim who refused to take the oath."
Kwon was the police officer in charge of the investigation. She claimed that Kim ordered officers to minimize the investigation and conceal evidence, but the court noted that all witnesses except her testified they were not ordered to do so.
Kwon held a press conference at Songpa Police Station, saying "The acquittal is a very shocking, unexpected and unacceptable result."
She claimed that differences among witnesses were typical during a whistle blowing incident, but the court did not take this into consideration.
Following Kim's acquittal, all eyes are on the outcome of the trial of former NIS director Won Sei-hoon who was indicted on charges of ordering his agents to post online comments, because the same judge is in charge.
Similar to Kim's case, the prosecution is believed to have failed to find direct evidence to prove Won actually directed the operatives to run the smear campaign.
Opposition lawmakers are speculating that Kim's acquittal raises the chances that Won could receive the same verdict.
Rep. Shin Kyoung-min of the DP claimed that "the Park administration is operating a project to clear charges against Kim and Won."
The ruling Saenuri Party downplayed this, saying, "The indictment was unreasonable in the first place."
Spokeswoman Kang Eun-hee said, "The opposition should stop politicizing the issue."
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