Prosecutors vow stern crackdown on online election irregularities

Prosecutors on Monday drafted legal guidelines on the use of Twitter and social networking sites for election campaigns, vowing strong punishments for online election irregularities prior to April's parliamentary elections, officials said.

The move came after Korea's National Election Commission (NEC) decided last week to allow candidates to use online and mobile media for their election campaigns year round. The NEC's decision was also in line with the ruling by the Constitutional Court, which stated that maximizing candidates' ability to reach out to voters does not violate election law.

Current Korean law stipulates that candidates are banned from promotional publications and other materials for 180 days prior to voting. The state election watchdog had previously classified Twitter postings related to elections and candidates as "banned material."

Under the guidelines, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said prosecutors will seek arrests and prison terms for those who post more than 30 such postings, send over 500 text messages or distribute 500 copies of printed materials that constitute negative campaigning targeting specific candidates.

Prison terms will be sought for those who bribe voters with more than 300,000 won ($260).

Prosecutors also vowed to proactively investigate irregularities related to voting by overseas citizens and deter any overseas-based pro-North Korea groups from attempting to influence the elections.

The April general elections will mark the first time that Korea has granted suffrage to citizens residing in foreign countries. About 2.3 million expatriates over the age of 19 are expected to qualify to cast ballots in the country's general election in April and a presidential election in December next year.

With less than 90 days ahead of the general elections, which is considered crucial as a precursor to the presidential race in December, about 150 people have already been cited for election irregularities, twice as many as those during the previous parliamentary elections held in 2008.

"Due to confusion in political circumstances, this year's election campaigning seems to have become overheated," said an official of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. He declined to be identified. (Yonhap)