Prosecution investigates Myung Tae-kyun's role in opinion poll manipulation

[Anchor]

The detained Myung Tae-kyun is under suspicion of establishing relationships with influential politicians through opinion polls and intervening in candidate nominations.

Today (11.21), the prosecution focused on determining whether Myung's opinion polls were actually delivered to the presidential campaign and whether there was any manipulation involved.

Reporter Choi Jin-seok has the details.

[Report]

During the last presidential election, former professor Shin Yong-han, who served as the head of policy support for the Yoon Suk Yeol campaign, appeared before the prosecution.

Professor Shin claimed that the unpublished opinion polls created by Myung Tae-kyun's Future Korea Research Institute, known as the 'Myung Tae-kyun Report', were discussed internally within the campaign on the day of the election.

[Shin Yong-han/Former Chair Professor at Seowon University: "The probability that I received it (Myung Tae-kyun Report) from outside the campaign is 0%."]

The prosecution's investigation is expanding to include opinion polls related to Myung.

They are verifying whether Myung's opinion polls were actually delivered to the presidential campaign, whether non-respondents were changed to support specific candidates, and whether the number of respondents was inflated, among other manipulations.

[Myung Tae-kyun - Kang Hye-kyung/Sept. 29, 2021: "Please raise Yoon Suk Yeol a bit, so that he is about 2% ahead of Hong Joon-pyo. (Understood.)"]

To confirm this, the prosecution has requested investigative advice from opinion poll experts.

In relation to the allegations of 'candidate nomination trading' involving preliminary candidates for local elections, the prosecution secured statements from Myung's side claiming, "We loaded money into the vehicle," and has conducted confrontational investigations.

This is KBS News, Choi Jin-seok.