The Democratic Party Begins Internal Audit on Myung Tae-gyun Over Alleged Party Member List Leak

Seobumsoo "Will Form Party Audit Committee"
Investigation Focuses on How Party Member Information Was Leaked

The People Power Party will conduct an internal audit regarding Myung Taekyun, who is suspected of being involved in the leak of party member lists during the last presidential primary.

Seo Beom-su, Secretary General of the People Power Party, confirmed to reporters at the National Assembly on the morning of the 16th that Myung is a regular member of the party and announced that an internal audit committee will be formed to investigate the facts.

Regarding the scope of the investigation, Secretary General Seo explained the policy of not setting limits, saying, "As the investigation proceeds, things get intertwined, and when you find one thing, it connects to another, so there is no reason to refuse an investigation under any pretext."

Earlier, on the 10th, Roh Jong-myeon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised suspicions that Myung interfered with opinion polls during the People Power Party's presidential primary. According to current election laws, party member lists and virtual phone numbers (safe numbers) collected for internal primaries are prohibited from being leaked outside the candidate camps.

However, it is reported that the Mirae Korea Research Institute, operated by Myung, conducted opinion polls for the next presidential election targeting 117,829 and 139,156 People Power Party members on October 19-20 and 21, 2021, respectively. The Mirae Korea Research Institute is known to have received responses from 3,450 people in the first survey and 5,044 people in the second survey.

The internal audit committee is expected to focus its investigation on how party member information was leaked to Myung. During the last presidential primary period (October 15 to November 4), the People Power Party distributed USBs containing anonymized information such as responsible party members, safe numbers, city and provincial electoral districts, and local party branch names to the camps of four candidates.

Seo Beom-su, member of the People Power Party./Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Secretary General Seo stated, "We officially requested accounting reports submitted to the Central Election Commission to see if the People Power Party candidate camps officially commissioned the Mirae Korea Research Institute or PNR (People Networks Research) operated by Myung, and we received them yesterday," adding, "There was no official contract or payment made with the four candidates."

Regarding this, he pointed out, "If the opinion polls were commissioned but no money was paid, it would be a violation of the Political Funds Act." Secretary General Seo also revealed that he contacted the camp officials who received the USBs at the time and indicated his intention to summon Myung as well.

On the effectiveness of the internal audit, he explained, "The party does not have compulsory investigative authority and there are limitations," but added that if additional suspicions arise, they will respond with lawsuits and complaints.

When asked by reporters about progress on the 'Myung Taekyun Prevention Act' recently mentioned by the party leadership to prevent manipulation of opinion polls, Secretary General Seo said, "It should be made into a bill, not just party rules. We need to coordinate with the Central Election Commission," and added, "I will consider how to propose it, and if it doesn't work, I will propose it myself."