40 Nationwide Voting and Counting Centers 'Molka' YouTuber Released Wearing Electronic Ankle Bracelet

Incheon District Court Grants Bail Request
Conditions Include Restriction to Residence

Ahead of the April 10 general election, a YouTuber who was arrested and indicted for installing illegal cameras at 40 voting and counting stations nationwide was released on bail.

On the 19th, Yonhap News reported that YouTuber A (49), who was arrested and indicted on charges including trespassing and violation of the Communications Privacy Protection Act, recently requested bail through his lawyer and received approval from the court.

A YouTuber installed illegal cameras at 40 polling stations nationwide
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Criminal Division 14 of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Son Seung-beom) accepted A’s request, stating, "There is sufficient reason to grant bail." However, the court restricted A’s residence to his home and imposed the condition of attaching an electronic location tracking device (electronic anklet) as a bail condition. Additionally, A submitted a pledge not to conceal any related evidence until the completion of the evidence investigation in the first trial, and the court also ordered him not to contact accomplices or witnesses in any manner.

A was prosecuted on charges of trespassing into 41 early voting and counting stations in 10 cities nationwide?including Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Gyeongnam, Daegu, and Gyeonggi?between March 8 and 28, ahead of the April 10 general election, to install illegal cameras. He is also accused of secretly recording conversations of public officials five times using illegal cameras at administrative welfare centers where early voting stations were set up. The police confirmed circumstances of A’s trespassing at a total of 41 locations including voting stations, and recovered cameras installed next to water purifiers and other places at 36 of these locations. Among the remaining five locations, cameras had already disappeared at three sites, and at two others, A was found to have retrieved the cameras himself after attempting installation.

Investigations revealed that A mainly used a method of secretly installing small cameras next to water purifiers in administrative welfare centers and disguising them as communication devices by attaching stickers with the names of specific telecom companies. In police questioning, he claimed, "I intended to monitor the manipulation of early voting rates by the election commission," and said, "I chose installation locations based on my own judgment criteria for places I wanted to monitor."

A has been active as a YouTuber continuously raising suspicions of election fraud. It was confirmed that he also installed cameras at early voting stations during the 2022 presidential election and last year’s by-election for the Gangseo District Office in Seoul to film inside. The police arrested two accomplices who assisted A in the crime while accompanying him in Yangsan, Gyeongnam, and nine other accomplices were also booked by the police.

Previously, A applied for a citizen participation trial and is scheduled to continue the first trial in a non-detained state. His citizen participation trial will be held on the 30th of next month at courtroom 413 of the Incheon District Court.