Investigators not to extend probe for opinion-rigging scandal
Assistant special counsel Park Sang-yoong speaks at a press briefing in the counsel's office in Seocho, southern Seoul, Wednesday, to announce the probe team decided not to seek a 30-day extension of its investigation period for the opinion-rigging scandal. Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
The investigation into the online opinion-rigging scandal will be wrapped up Saturday as the independent counsel team decided not to seek an extension of its probe period.
The team led by special counsel Huh Ik-bum said Wednesday it would not pursue the extension, adding it will announce detailed findings on its two-month investigation next Monday.
While the country has had 13 cases investigated by special counsels, this is the first time for a counsel to give up its mandate to request the President to extend its two-month investigation period for another 30 days.
“We do not believe any further investigation or questioning of suspects is appropriate,” assistant special counsel Park Sang-yoong said at the press briefing in his office in Seocho, southern Seoul.
“We made the decision after assessing the progress made thus far, including what evidence we obtained and how much of the alleged crime has been uncovered. We will have a briefing next Monday to deliver our findings and who among the questioned suspects will be indicted.”
Since the launch of the investigation on June 27, the team has been looking into allegations that Druking, an influential blogger and the central figure in the scandal, manipulated about 80 million comments online in the lead-up to last year's snap presidential election.
The team believed that Druking and a group of his followers used a software macro to manipulate the comments to boost the popularity of then Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate Moon Jae-in. It suspects South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyoung-soo, a former lawmaker and close aide to President Moon, conspired with Druking for the manipulation.
However, the investigation largely lost momentum after the team failed to have key suspects detained including Kim as well as a lawyer surnamed Do, a key adviser to Druking.
The Seoul Central District Court rejected the team's request to issue an arrest warrant for Kim, Saturday, citing insufficient evidence to prove the allegation, similar grounds on which Do was also able to avoid arrest twice.
Kim is expected to be indicted without detention on charges of obstruction of business as the suspected rigging interfered with online content on the country's two largest portals ― Naver and Daum.
Public sentiment increasingly turned against the team following the suicide of progressive lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan of the Justice Party.
He committed suicide late last month amid an allegation that he received 40 million won ($38,000) in bribes from the blogger. Many criticized the team's focus on Roh as “misplaced priority.”
The move also reflected criticism that 3.1 billion won ($2.9 million) in allocated budget may be squandered if the team fails to hold the necessary figures accountable.
Investigators in all previous 12 independent counsel cases sought extensions. The extensions were rejected by presidents in three cases.