By Kim Rahn
A special counsel has failed to verify allegations that Cheong Wa Dae was involved in a cyber attack on the National Election Commission’s (NEC) website during the Seoul mayoral election in October.
It was the second “no new finding” in about a week, as the prosecution was also unsuccessful in finding out whether or not the presidential office masterminded the government’s illegal surveillance of citizens critical of President Lee Myung-bak.
Critics charge that the investigations into the two most politically sensitive issues only cleared the presidential office of any wrongdoing, despite lingering suspicions among the public.
Announcing the results of the three-month investigation into the attack, the counsel indicted Kim Hyo-jae, former senior presidential secretary for political affairs, without detention, Thursday, for leaking probe information.
The attack was made by an aide to Choi Gu-sik, a former Grand National Party lawmaker, the predecessor of the ruling Saenuri Party, and an aide to then-Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae. It aimed at preventing young voters from checking polling stations and voting for the opposition-backed Park Won-soon.
When the police arrested Choi’s aide, surnamed Gong, in December and reported this to the presidential office, Kim allegedly told Choi this confidential information before police officially announced it.
Two other former Cheong Wa Dae staffers were also indicted on the same charges. They allegedly delivered the report to another of Choi’s aide and an aide to Park, keeping them updated with the investigation progress.
However, the result of the counsel’s investigation did not differ much from previous ones conducted by the police and the prosecution, failing to verify allegations that higher-profile Cheong Wa Dae officials or politicians masterminded the attack.
“Kim called then police chief Cho Hyun-oh several days after Gong was arrested, but we didn’t find any evidence that the two attempted to fabricate or cover up the case,” independent counsel Park Tae-seok said.
The investigation team closed the probe into other allegations as well, including the involvement of Choi or Na Kyung-won, the ruling party’s Seoul mayoral candidate.
An NEC worker was also indicted for negligence of duty. He allegedly didn’t follow the watchdog’s manual for cyber attack prevention ahead of the election and failed to take proper steps when the attack took place.
A director at mobile carrier LG Uplus was also charged for interfering with NEC officials in the course of their duty. The director allegedly made a false report about the cause and circumstances of the attack in an attempt to cover up the company’s misdeeds.
The company also provided false information about the attack to the NEC and the National Assembly based on his false report.
On June 13, the prosecution announced the result of its second investigation into the surveillance scandal. It indicted former presidential secretary for labor Lee Young-ho and former Knowledge Economy Vice Minister Park Young-june, but found no evidence linking any higher-profile officials.
Prosecutors said big names in politics, business, religion and civic sectors were monitored, but added that the monitoring was just to collect publically available information and that such activity was not subject to criminal charges.