Police Clear Chungbuk Governor Kim Younghwan of Perjury Charges in Osong Disaster Parliamentary Probe

The police have cleared Kim Younghwan, Governor of Chungbuk Province, of charges of perjury during the National Assembly's Osong Disaster Investigation.

Governor Kim Younghwan of Chungbuk Province, who is accused of perjury in the National Assembly Osong Disaster State Investigation, is responding to reporters' questions as he appears at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul on November 4 last year. Photo by Yonhap News

According to Chungbuk Province and Yonhap News on February 2, the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul decided on January 28 not to refer Governor Kim’s case to the prosecution, concluding that there was no evidence of a violation of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly.

The police reportedly determined, based on Governor Kim’s phone records and other evidence, that his actions could not be considered perjury.

Governor Kim had been accused of giving false testimony during the parliamentary investigation held on September 10 last year, specifically by claiming that he was monitoring the underpass and other areas via CCTV on the day of the disaster, and that he had made phone calls to more than ten locations.

When Governor Kim appeared before the police as a suspect in November last year, he asserted, "The perjury accusation related to the parliamentary investigation and this case is clearly political oppression."