"Referee Fixes the Match... Findings Sent to Ethics Committee Without Disciplinary Recommendation"
The People Power Party's Party Affairs Audit Committee announced on the 30th that its investigation into the so-called party member bulletin board controversy has confirmed that former leader Han Donghoon bears management responsibility. The committee likened the situation to a referee manipulating the outcome of a match and stated that it plans to forward the findings to the Central Ethics Committee.
After concluding its 8th meeting on this day, the Party Affairs Audit Committee said, "The investigation into the party member bulletin board revealed that the problematic accounts are registered under the names of five members of former leader Han's family," and added, "It was confirmed that 87.6% of the posts were created from just two IP addresses, indicating suspicious polling activity."
Lee Hosun, Chair of the Party Affairs Audit Committee, explained in a written response that the IP addresses of the problematic accounts, the last digits of the family members' mobile phone numbers, their residential electoral districts, and the timing of their concentrated resignations within a four-day period all matched. Lee stated, "The probability that people with the same name would coincidentally share all these conditions is virtually 0%," and added, "If this were a mere coincidence, the person under investigation could have explained it directly, but no response was given." Lee further argued, "Refusing to answer even simple questions can only be seen as an attempt to evade political and moral accountability."
The Party Affairs Audit Committee also compared the case to the so-called "Druking" incident, a large-scale opinion manipulation scandal. Lee commented, "While the quantitative scale is different, qualitatively, this case may be even more serious, as it involves suspicions that the party leader or their close associates manipulated internal opinion using family members' names." Lee continued, "If the intention was to distort party sentiment and then report and amplify it through external media to sway public opinion at large, this could constitute an even more serious crime than the Druking incident." Lee also pointed out, "The party leader has a responsibility to manage the public forum fairly, and in this sense, it is akin to a referee fixing the outcome of a match."
The Party Affairs Audit Committee decided to forward only the investigation results to the Ethics Committee without recommending disciplinary action against former leader Han. Lee explained, "We considered the possibility that the person under investigation might object to the authority of the Party Affairs Audit Committee," and added, "That issue can be addressed during the Ethics Committee's deliberation process." Regarding speculation about political motives behind the committee's actions, Lee drew a clear line, saying, "(The criticism that this is about eliminating an internal rival) is utterly groundless," and questioned, "If there were political motives, would we send the case to the Ethics Committee without a disciplinary recommendation?"
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