Prosecutors, Police, and Election Commission Hold Joint Meeting for Presidential and Local Elections... Central District Prosecutors' Office Maintains Emergency Duty System Until December 1

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] A joint task force meeting among related agencies was held on the 25th in preparation for the 20th presidential election scheduled for March this year and the 8th nationwide local elections to be held in June.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission held a joint task force meeting on the same day to prepare for the two major elections taking place this year.

The meeting, held from 2 p.m. at the small conference room on the 13th floor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, was conducted with only seven officials from the prosecution, police, and election commission attending, considering the COVID-19 spread situation.

From the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, three people attended, including the head of the Public Investigation Division 2, which is in charge of election cases, and two prosecutors; from the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, two people including the director of the Guidance Division and the first investigation officer; and from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, two people including the head of Investigation Division 3 and the head of the Public Investigation Team of Investigation Division 2.

Each agency agreed to cooperate closely, focusing their efforts on cracking down on key target crimes such as bribery, dissemination of false information and manipulation of public opinion, and illegal involvement by public officials and organizations, and to respond strictly by actively investigating these offenses.

They also agreed to ensure procedural compliance throughout the investigation process by guaranteeing the rights of participation of the parties involved to prevent human rights violations or legal controversies, and to strengthen the cooperation system among related agencies to actively collaborate from the early stages of responding to election-related crimes.

In particular, a dedicated area will be assigned to each prosecutor, establishing a 24-hour emergency contact system with the relevant election commission and police station to enable prompt response from the initial stage of election crime occurrence.

Additionally, the prosecution and police agreed to form an investigative cooperation system to actively exchange opinions on investigation direction, legal application, and evidence collection from the early stages of the investigation.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced that it has organized a "Special Investigation Team for Election Crimes" led by Kim Kyung-geun, head of Public Investigation Division 2, and plans to maintain an emergency duty system until December 1 of this year, when the statute of limitations for local election prosecutions expires.

A prosecution official stated, "Regardless of the election outcome, position, or affiliated party of the investigation subjects, we will investigate based on 'law and principles' and do our best to establish a fair election culture by ensuring that appropriate sentences are imposed for illegal acts."