Im Jong-seok: "Yoon Seok-yeol is responsible for the Ulsan incident... Clearly planned"

Im Jong-seok, former Chief of Staff to the President.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Amid the prosecution's indictment of Lee Jin-seok, Chief of the Blue House National Situation Room, in connection with the 'Ulsan mayoral election interference suspicion' case, former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok has strongly opposed the move, stating, "It is unfair and cowardly. The 'Ulsan case' was clearly a deliberately planned incident, and the person responsible is former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol."

On the 10th, former Chief of Staff Im posted on his Facebook, saying, "The indictment of Lee Jin-seok is unfair and cowardly." He added, "If the prosecution's claim that the Blue House was organizationally involved is true, how could Lee Jin-seok, who was a secretary at the time, have the authority to be responsible for that matter?"

A post uploaded by former Blue House Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok on his Facebook on the 10th. [Photo by Facebook]

He continued, "The prosecution itself realized that the picture did not fit, so they forcibly summoned Im Jong-seok as a suspect. In that case, it would be proper to either indict Im Jong-seok or close the case if no charges were found."

He also argued, "They conducted raids on the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Balanced National Development Committee, and summoned numerous public officials for investigation but failed to find evidence. Yet, they made Lee Jin-seok a scapegoat simply because he was in charge of social policy."

Former Chief of Staff Im also directly criticized former Prosecutor General Yoon and the prosecution. He said, "The so-called 'Ulsan case' was clearly a deliberately planned incident, and the person responsible is former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol," adding, "I believe that Lee Jin-seok's innocence will be proven through the trial."

Earlier, the prosecution, which had been investigating the Ulsan mayoral election interference suspicion case, effectively concluded the investigation by indicting Lee Jin-seok, Chief of the Blue House National Situation Room. Lee, who was the Blue House Social Policy Secretary at the time, is charged with interfering in Mayor Song's election pledge design (violation of the Public Official Election Act, etc.). Former Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, former Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, and Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Lee Kwang-cheol, who were suspected of involvement in election interference and ordered investigations, were cleared due to insufficient evidence.