Prosecutor Jin Hyewon Accused of 'Election Law Violation'... Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office Investigates

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] Ahead of the April 7 by-election, Jin Hye-won (46, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 34), Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, who was reported for posting defamatory posts against specific candidates on social networking services (SNS), is now under investigation by the prosecution office to which she belongs.

According to the legal community on the 7th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office recently assigned the case, in which the Action Alliance for the Restoration of the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) reported Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jin for violations of the Public Official Election Act and the National Public Service Act, to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office.

On the 31st of last month, Prosecutor Jin posted on her Facebook, stating, "One person self-allocated 3.6 billion won in compensation in 2010, which is slightly less than 9 billion won in current value," and "Another person delivered a sculpture reminiscent of hookworm and received several residential-commercial complex buildings worth over 2 billion won."

She also said, "These people showed the peak of 'vulgar selfishness' and 'lack of public service awareness' by directly using their official authority to enrich themselves or their families."

This led some to interpret that she was targeting Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, regarding the 'Naegok-dong land preferential treatment suspicion,' and Park Hyung-joon, the People Power Party's Busan mayoral candidate, regarding the 'sculpture delivery suspicion.'

Article 9 of the current Public Official Election Act stipulates that "public officials and others who must maintain political neutrality shall not exercise undue influence on elections or engage in acts that affect election results." Article 65 of the National Public Service Act also prohibits political activities by public officials.

Accordingly, Beopse-ryeon stated, "She used extreme and definitive expressions to criticize suspicions about candidates of a specific political party, which is a clear violation of political neutrality and election interference," and filed a complaint against Prosecutor Jin.

Nevertheless, Prosecutor Jin repeatedly posted on her Facebook mentioning suspicions related to candidates Oh and Park, and the day before, she posted a photo showing election campaigners from Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, campaigning on the street.