"Yoon, who claimed to support Kim Eun-hye, clearly interfered in the election"... Democratic Party files complaint against President Yoon and Kang Yong-seok with the Election Commission

Yun Hojung "No More Election Interference Will Be Tolerated"

On the morning of the 16th, Oh Dohwan, a lawyer affiliated with the Gyeonggi Province branch of the Democratic Party of Korea, is entering the Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission building to submit a complaint against President Yoon Seok-yeol and Gyeonggi Governor candidate Kang Yong-seok.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The Gyeonggi Province branch of the Democratic Party of Korea has filed a complaint with the Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission against President Yoon Seok-yeol and Gyeonggi Governor candidate Kang Yong-seok for violating the Public Official Election Act.

On the 16th, the Democratic Party's Gyeonggi branch reported that President Yoon, during his president-elect period, made remarks about 'interfering in the election' during a phone call with candidate Kang, and filed a complaint with the Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission for violating the Public Official Election Act. They also filed a complaint against candidate Kang for publicly disclosing these remarks through a media interview under the same charges.

In the complaint, the Democratic Party stated, "The president-elect is considered a temporary government official under the law and is equivalent to a public official responsible to the people, thus falling under the category of 'persons who must maintain political neutrality' as stipulated in Articles 9 and 85 of the Public Official Election Act."

They continued, "President Yoon, in his capacity as president-elect, clearly influenced the election by instructing candidate Kang during the call to 'not help candidate Kim Dong-yeon but support candidate Kim Eun-hye in the election.'"

They also stated, "It is evident that candidate Kang had the conviction that publicly disclosing President Yoon's remarks through a media interview would influence the consolidation of conservative votes and favorably affect his own or candidate Kim Eun-hye's election."

The Democratic Party added, "This was a planned act to influence the election results by using a person obligated to maintain election neutrality such as a public official, and even if the person is 'not a public official or in a public position,' they cannot be exempt from co-conspirator liability."

Earlier, on the 12th, candidate Kang revealed in an interview with a media outlet that during President Yoon's president-elect period, he received a phone call from him saying, "Why are you attacking candidate Kim Eun-hye? Shouldn't we fight well together?"

Meanwhile, on the same day, Yoon Ho-jung, the Emergency Response Committee Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "I warn President Yoon. We will no longer tolerate election interference. The Central Election Commission must take appropriate measures that the public can accept."