Prosecutors reopen 2012 election fraud case

/ Korea Times photo by Cho Young-ho

By Jung Min-ho

Prosecutors have begun a reinvestigation of the nation’s spy agency, which conducted an illicit campaign to rig the 2012 presidential election in favor of Park Geun-hye, who narrowly defeated Moon Jae-in.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Monday that it is looking into the result of the National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) internal investigation of the election.

Earlier, the NIS concluded that it had operated 30 teams of tech-savvy civilians with 3,500 IDs to support Park and other right-wing politicians in the three-year run-up to the vote. Then, it handed all the data to the prosecution.

After analyzing the evidence, the prosecution will decide whether to ask a court to hold additional hearings to question former NIS chief Won Sei-hoon, who is charged with taking a leading role in the smear campaign.

Won, who served in the post from February 2009 to March 2013 under former President Lee Myung-bak, is now awaiting a verdict, which is scheduled for Aug. 30.

During their first investigation into the case, prosecutors failed to secure critical evidence as the NIS refused to cooperate, citing national security. As a result, Won was not found guilty of the smear campaign charge in 2015 by the Supreme Court, which ordered a rehearing.

But the latest findings pushed prosecutors to reopen the case and their investigation could expand to Lee and his aides. The former president is accused of knowing about the activities of the NIS.

If the evidence is found to be sufficient by the court, the legitimacy of the Park government will be seriously questioned.

The Liberty Korea Party, the governing party under the two former presidents, has already been trying to paint the case as nothing more than political squabbling.

Speaking to reporters, Friday, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong claimed that the internal probe team of the NIS is simply trying to retaliate against his party.

“Most of the members of the team are aides of Moon and former president Roh Moo-hyun. We doubt the credibility of their investigation,” he said. “We will put up a fight against the Moon government’s attempt to destroy the opposition.”

In response, Rep. Park Beom-kye of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said the only thing the team is doing is trying to “find the truth.”

“Whether the NIS can turn itself into a trustworthy institution is up to itself,” he said. “The NIS is now at the crossroads.”