Kim questioned over online opinion-rigging

Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo appears at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shm Sang-soon

By Kim Hyun-bin

Police questioned Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea Friday over his alleged involvement in online opinion-rigging.

Kim appeared at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) at around 10 a.m. Friday _ just two days after police subpoenaed him.

The police questioned him as a witness for allegedly helping a power blogger known as Druking.

Druking allegedly set up a team in January 2017 to increase the number of clicks on news articles in favor of then-presidential candidate Moon Jae-in during the presidential race.

Druking admitted to using a software macro, a computer program used to create automated repetitive sequences.

Seoul police have arrested and charged Druking for manipulating internet comments via the software.

Kim, a confidant of President Moon Jae-in, is running for governor of South Gyeongsang Province in the local elections on June 13.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LPK) has been pushing for an independent probe of the case.

The police are investigating how much Kim was involved in or whether he had knowledge of the alleged online comment-rigging.

They are also trying to find out if he was aware of the 5 million won ($4,600) one of his aides received from Druking's associate earlier this year.

The money was returned right after Druking's arrest.

Kim is also facing allegations that Druking requested Kim to recommend his acquaintance as a consul general in Osaka.

Druking told police the opinion-rigging was carried out until Kim refused his request to have two lawyers appointed to the position.

The police said they will further investigate the two lawyers, only identified by their family names Yoon and Doh, to see if they were involved in the alleged opinion-rigging.

The police claim Kim sent at least 10 messages containing links to news articles related to the President from November 2016 to last month.

Druking received the messages via Telegram, a Russia-based mobile messenger. But the messages are untraceable.

The police are expanding their investigation into members of an association run by Druking to see if any of them were involved.

They have been analyzing Naver IDs of the association members linked to the power blogger and plan to call in anyone suspicious for questioning.

The police have also been investigating if the suspects have carried out similar schemes before and after the presidential election last year.