People's Party leaders cleared in fabrication scandal

By Lee Kyung-min

The prosecution indicted two former senior members of the opposition People’s Party, Monday, for using fabricated “evidence” in a smear campaign against then presidential candidate Moon Jae-in in the lead up to the May 9 election.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office cleared party leaders _ former presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo and former floor leader Park Jie-won – of any involvement. It also did not indict former presidential election campaign chief Rep. Lee Yong-ju.

This helped the party escape a grave crisis with its approval rating having plummeted to a mere 4 percent.

The prosecution questioned all three but could not find evidence proving their involvement in the scandal.

The prosecution indicted former lawmakers Kim Seong-ho and Kim In-won for failing to establish the veracity of the allegation _ concocted by a party member and her brother _ made against Moon before holding a press conference to go public with it. They were charged with violating the Election Law which bans disseminating false information.

The prosecution said the two held press conferences on May 5 and 7, to deliver the allegation based on fabricated material, made by Lee Yu-mi and her brother, which was given to them by former senior party official Lee Jun-suh.

Lee Jun-suh has already been indicted for willfully neglecting his duty to verify the authenticity of the voice recording and messages on a Kakao Talk chatroom produced by the Lee siblings In the material the two fabricated evidence that the president’s son Joon-yong used his father’s influence to land a job at a government agency.

They were also indicted.

In the materials made to look like a communication between Joon-yong and a schoolmate at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, the son admits he landed the job due to his father’s influence.

Earlier, the prosecution said Lee Jun-suh heard from Lee Yu-mi on April 27 that she had a source at the U.S. design school that could prove the allegation.

Lee Jun-suh then promised her the party's Youth Committee chief position in exchange for producing a “written account” in the form of a conversation.

After the meeting, Lee Jun-suh called a reporter about what he claimed was "an explosive scoop," pushing to run the story even before Lee Yu-mi handed any material over to him.

Lee Yu-mi created a Kakao Talk chatroom April 30 to make it look like a conversation between Moon Joon-yong and the schoolmate using three separate smartphones.

However, after the reporter told Lee Jun-suh a voice recording was required in order for the story to air, he then told this to Lee Yu-mi, who made a recording May 2 in which her brother disguised himself as the schoolmate.

Lee Jun-suh handed this over to Lee Yong-ju May 4 without checking the name and address of whom he claimed was Moon Joon-yong's school friend. The party convened a meeting later in the day to discuss whether it should use the recording.

During the meeting, key campaign officials, including Kim Seong-ho and Kim In-won, requested Lee Jun-suh to disclose the identities of the figures in the recording. But he refused, citing the need to protect his source, adding he would take full responsibility.