Police, governor at loggerheads over 'foul-mouthed' Twitter account

Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung speaks to reporters about the results of a police investigation into a controversial Twitter account, in front of the provincial government building in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Yonhap

By Kim Hyun-bin

Police and Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung are locking horns over the results of an investigation into a controversial Twitter account involved in multiple irregularities that indicate it belongs to his wife.

Lee strongly slammed the police investigation, claiming it was a politically motivated attack on him, as he has been talked of being a potential presidential candidate.

“The Twitter account does not belong to my wife,” Lee told reporters in front of his office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. “There is plenty of evidence proving otherwise, but the police concluded it was hers based on vague information they collected,” he said.

Police said Saturday that Lee's wife, Kim Hye-gyeong, was the owner of the Twitter account with the ID "Hyegyeonggung Ms. Kim," which they claim was used to spread false information about his political opponents over the past several years.

They referred the case to the prosecution Monday, requesting an indictment of Kim for violating the Election Law and committing defamation.

Police said Lee and “Hyegyeonggung Ms. Kim” posted the same pictures on Twitter and other SNS accounts, and the Twitter account owner and Kim changed their phones from an android powered one to an iphone at a similar time.

Lee refuted this, saying the police were making politically motivated, baseless accusations. He claimed officers disregarded evidence pointing to his wife's innocence, saying their investigation abilities were poorer than those of internet users.

“The police have been so generous to Kim Young-hwan (his former rival from the Bareunmirae Party for the governor post), who spread false information about me. But they are so harsh on me and my wife. I hope they will not involve my innocent wife and family in this battle,” Lee said.

However, the police said they have compiled enough compelling evidence that has not been revealed to the media.

On Sunday after the police announcement, the governor requested support from internet users through his Facebook account, urging them to find and upload photos, comments, or other evidence that can prove his wife was not the owner of the Twitter account.

He also invited people to vote on his Twitter account Sunday about who they trust more _ him or the police.

However, Lee's aim to gain public support has backfired, with over 80 percent of 40,000 people who cast a vote siding with the police.

In December 2016, when Lee was competing with Moon Jae-in in the Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) primary for the presidential election, Hyegyeonggung Ms. Kim falsely claimed that Moon's son Joon-young received special treatment when landing a public agency job in 2006 because of his father's position as a senior presidential secretary at the time.

In April when Lee was competing with Rep. Jeon Hae-cheol of the DPK in the party's primary for the governor election, the Twitter ID posted false comments about Jeon that he cooperated with the main opposition Liberty Korea Party to attack Lee.

The governor has also been embroiled in scandals of his own including an alleged extramarital affair with an actress and, forcibly putting his elder brother in a mental institution.