Prosecutors Charge Officials for Violating Election Laws During Presidential Campaign

Prosecutors have filed charges against Kim Jeong-seop, the deputy director of the Sejong Institute, and an unnamed professor from the National Defense University for allegedly violating public election laws while assisting in the development of campaign pledges for Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate during the last election. The Seoul Northern District Prosecutor's Office's Criminal Division 5, led by Chief Prosecutor Park Ji-hoon, announced that Kim was charged for participating in the creation of defense-related election pledges for a specific candidate in violation of the Public Official Election Act. At the time, Kim served as the vice-chairman of the Democratic Party's Central Election Countermeasure Committee's Defense Policy Special Committee.

Additionally, the professor from the National Defense University, who conspired with Kim, has also been charged with violations of the State Public Officials Act and the Public Official Election Act. Despite being a specific public official, the professor is accused of joining political parties and engaging in the development of defense-related campaign pledges for a particular candidate.

Furthermore, Kim Yoon-tae, the former head of the Korea Defense Research Institute, was charged for violating the Anti-Corruption Act after he allegedly assisted in the development of defense-related campaign pledges at Kim's request. The prosecution has also filed a summary order against three researchers from the Korea Defense Research Institute who participated in the pledge development under Kim's direction.

Previously, the Board of Audit and Inspection had sent investigation materials to the prosecution in January of last year, suspecting that the Korea Defense Research Institute, a think tank under the Ministry of National Defense, had illegally supported the establishment of campaign pledges for Lee Jae-myung through platforms like Telegram in 2021, potentially misusing classified defense-related information in the process.