INVESTIGATIONS INTO ELECTION VIOLATIONS

[Anchor Lead]

Local elections are over and investigation into election violations has begun. The prosecution said some 800 people are under probe including 51 election winners. A raid conducted at a Seoul district ward office on Thursday signaled the beginning of what is to come.

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A document from an internal meeting held at Seoul’s Jung-gu district office last December. It includes orders asking officials to make thorough reports about any meetings and events taking place and to find opportunities for the district chief to possibly attend. Unionized civil servants filed a report with the election watchdog against Jung-gu district chairman Seo Yang-ho. They argue such directives constitute illegal election campaigning involving the mobilization of ward office employees.

[Soundbite] (Union official) : "The District chief advertised a list of projects he would carry out if elected. So we filed a complaint."

The National Election Commission alerted the prosecution in April. Investigators waited until the election ended and raided the Jung-gu office on Thursday. This is just one case. The prosecution is looking into some 870 individuals over election law violations. Thirty-two have already been indicted. The figure includes 3 lawmakers, 3 mayors and governors, 6 education chiefs and 39 local government heads, among a totalof 51 election winners. Among them are lawmaker Lee Jae-myung, Seoul’s superintendent of education Cho Hee-yeon, Gyeonggido Province governor Kim Dong-yeon and elected governor of Gyeongsangnamdo Park Wan-soo. Ahn Cheol-soo who won a parliamentary seat in Wednesday’s election has been booked on charges related to the March presidential election. By type of violation, public opinion manipulation such as promoting false facts accounted for the largest portion, followed by bribery. Other cases include election meddling by public officials as well as election violence. Prosecutors are set to work under emergency mode in their investigations until the statute of limitations expires on December 1. This is the last time a direct probe into election violations is conducted by prosecutors as the prosecution’s investigative powers have been recently curtailed.