Ex-People's Party official faces arrest

Lee Jun-seo,

By Lee Kyung-min

The prosecution sought an arrest warrant for former senior People’s Party official Lee Jun-seo, Sunday, over his alleged involvement in a smear campaign against then presidential candidate Moon Jae-in in the lead up to the May 9 election.

The Seoul Southern Prosecutors’ Office alleged Lee handed over a fabricated voice recording to the party, which it publicly disclosed May 5, just four days before the election.

In the recording, made by People’s Party member Lee You-mi and her brother, President Moon’s son Joon-yong is alleged to have used his father’s influence to land a job at a public agency, the Korea Employment Information Service, in 2006.

The prosecution also filed for a separate arrest warrant for Lee You-mi’s brother.

Lee You-mi had been a student of the party’s former presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, when he taught at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST).

The prosecution initially concluded that Lee You-mi acted alone, but determined Lee Jun-seo willfully neglected his duty to verify the authenticity of the recording.

The prosecution said Lee Jun-seo was aware of the fabrication, given that Lee You-mi, since the day of the public disclosure, kept sending text messages and making calls to him expressing her concerns about possible repercussions.

Earlier, Lee You-mi confessed to creating what was intended to be an anonymous tip-off.

The voice of the man in the recording, who claimed to be a schoolmate of Joon-yong at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, was Lee You-mi’s brother.

Screenshots of Kakao Talk messages that were made to look like communications between Joon-yong and a schoolmate were created by Lee You-mi alone using three separate smartphones.

The prosecution took Lee You-mi into custody last month on charges of spreading defamatory information. The People’s Party leadership has been denying any involvement, saying Lee You-mi acted alone.

The party’s interim leader Rep. Park Joo-sun said last week its in-house investigation team led by Kim Kwan-young questioned Ahn for 50 minutes, but has yet to announce its findings.

The prosecution may question party’s former senior campaign officials including Rep. Lee Yong-ju soon. His assistant was recently questioned about the party candidate’s verification process.

The prosecution will likely look into whether Ahn and then party leader Park Jie-won were aware of, or involved in the fabrication. Prosecutors will also investigate whether they were also aware that the information was false but used it anyway to help Ahn and attack Moon.