Im Dong-ho, Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Member, Testifies in Court "Moon's Blue House Proposed Public Institution Heads"

Im Dong-ho, former Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Im Dong-ho, former Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party who competed against former Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho in the June 13, 2018 local elections, testified in court that he was discouraged from running by the Blue House and was offered a public institution head position at that time.

On the 5th, Im appeared as a witness at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21-3 (Presiding Judges Jang Yong-beom, Ma Seong-young, Kim Jeong-gon) trial regarding allegations of violation of the Public Official Election Act against former Mayor Song and former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Han Byung-do. On that day, the trial proceeded only for former Secretary Han.

According to Im’s testimony, on February 12, 2018, former Secretary Han called Im and said, "Why do you want to run? Think it over one last time." Im explained, "I thought it was said out of concern," and added, "I gratefully accepted the sentiment."

When the prosecution asked, "Did former Secretary Han offer you a position, saying 'You cannot be the Consul General in Osaka, but we can offer you a CEO position at an A-grade public corporation'?" Im testified, "I don’t remember exactly, but he asked, 'How about a position?'" Later, an administrative officer in charge of personnel at the Blue House called asking, "What kind of position would you want?" but Im reportedly declined.

However, Im stated, "He never told me not to participate in the primary," and added, "He was just expressing concern as a friend."

When the defense attorney for former Secretary Han asked, "Isn’t it true that you never mentioned a specific position to the witness?" Im replied, "Not specifically, and I don’t remember exactly." However, he elaborated, "I think I heard about two positions, an A-grade and a B-grade. I’m not sure about the A-grade, but it was a public institution head position."

The prosecution also revealed in court the contents of a notebook belonging to Song Byeong-gi, former Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Ulsan and an associate of former Mayor Song. The notebook contained notes about Im, including "a sure way to suppress" and "if investigated, Secretary Im Jong-seok would also have to step down."

When the prosecution asked, "It seems that people on Mayor Song’s side made many efforts to drive out the witness. Have you personally experienced this?" Im responded, "No one would be unaware unless they are a fool," and added, "I’m fine, but they shouldn’t be doing that to people around me."

Former Secretary Han was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act for urging Im, who was a primary competitor to former Mayor Song, to give up running by offering public institution head positions. At that time, the Democratic Party gave a single nomination to former Mayor Song as the Ulsan mayoral candidate. The prosecution believes that ahead of the 2018 local elections, the Blue House took various illegal measures to ensure former Mayor Song’s victory and brought to trial former Mayor Song, former Ulsan Police Chief Hwang Un-ha, and former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Baek Won-woo, among others.