Appears for Detention Hearing
Decision on Detention Expected as Early as the Afternoon of the 1st
The decision on whether to detain an election official who cast a proxy vote under their spouse's name on the first day of early voting for the 21st presidential election is expected as early as the afternoon of June 1.
Judge Yeom Hyesu of the Seoul Central District Court is currently conducting a pretrial detention hearing (warrant review) for Park, who is accused of violating the Public Official Election Act, starting at 2 p.m. on this day.
Arriving in front of the court at around 1:26 p.m., Park responded to reporters' questions about why they cast a proxy vote by saying, "I'm sorry."
When asked whether the crime was premeditated, Park replied, "Not at all," and added, "It was a wrong choice made in the moment." Park also denied having ever cast a proxy vote before, answering "No" to the question.
Park is accused of issuing a ballot using her husband's ID and casting a proxy vote at the Daechi 2-dong early voting station in Gangnam-gu on May 29, while the presidential early voting was underway, and then voting again with her own ID about five hours later.
Park, a contract public official affiliated with the Gangnam-gu Public Health Center, was appointed as an election official and was responsible for issuing ballots to voters.
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