With six days remaining until the June 3 presidential election, a 'complaint war' between the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party is intensifying. Most of the allegations involve claims of spreading false facts, such as lies told during election TV debates and campaign events, under the Public Official Election Act. As the official election campaign enters its later stages, negative attacks are reaching a peak.
According to a comprehensive report by ChosunBiz on the 28th, the Democratic Party of Korea's Fake News Response Team stated that they would file a complaint with the police against 13 people, including Kweon Seong-dong, chairman of the emergency measures committee of the People Power Party, and the floor leader, for the crime of publishing false facts with the intent to defeat a candidate under the Public Official Election Act.
The Democratic Party of Korea claimed that these individuals spread false information by stating that candidate Lee Jae-myung had planned the development of 'Turtle Island Wave Park' during his tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province and boasted about it as his achievement despite the high vacancy rate. The party rebutted, saying, "Candidate Lee has never boasted about developing Turtle Island as an achievement, and the essence of the vacancy problem of Turtle Island lies in the incompetence of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration."
In response, the People Power Party launched a counterattack. On the same day, the negative response team of the People Power Party announced that they would file a complaint with the police against candidate Lee Jae-myung for making statements suggesting that "my family and I have no corruption."
The People Power Party raised an issue regarding Lee Jae-myung's statement during a press conference on the 25th, saying, "Our family does not commit corruption. I do not engage in corruption either. I have never met with contractors privately in my life."
The negative response team stated, "Candidate Lee Jae-myung, his spouse, and aides have criminal records or are currently undergoing criminal trials due to criminal acts, which is a serious false fact that could significantly influence the presidential election."
They also pointed out that candidate Lee has a history of being punished four times for false accusations and drunk driving, and he is currently under criminal trial for violating the Public Official Election Act, witness intimidation, and embezzlement, while his spouse, Kim Hye-kyung, was indicted for misusing a corporate credit card, resulting in a guilty verdict of 1.5 million won in the second trial.
Earlier on the 25th, it was announced that the Democratic Party of Korea's Central Election Headquarters Legal Support Team and the Fake News Response Team would file a complaint with the police against Kim Moon-soo for the alleged crime of 'improper receipt of political funds' under the Public Official Election Act.
On the 24th, they raised an issue about Kim Moon-soo receiving a basket of apples from Mungyeong and a box of dried persimmons from Sangju during a campaign event in Gyeongsangbuk-do.
On the 23rd, it was reported that candidate Kim Moon-soo distributed business cards to voters while he was a preliminary candidate earlier this month, and that he will be reported to the police for violating the Public Official Election Act. On the 19th, it was reported that candidate Kim made a statement suggesting that he refused to accept 1 billion won in democracy movement compensation, leading to allegations of publishing false facts.
On the 18th, it was announced that the People Power Party plans to file a complaint with the police against Kim Yong-tae, the chairman of the People Power Party's emergency measures committee, for criticizing candidate Lee Jae-myung's statement about 'coffee costing 120 won.' On the 13th, candidate Kim was also reported to have received illegal political funds through YouTube's 'Super Chat,' leading to allegations of violating the Political Fund Act.
The People Power Party is also countering the Democratic Party of Korea with legal measures.
The party's negative response team announced on the 25th that they filed a complaint with the police against candidate Lee Jae-myung for publishing false facts regarding his statements about 'the transfer of HMM to Busan,' 'the tolls on Ilsan Bridge,' and 'coffee costing 120 won.'
On the 16th, candidate Lee's aides, Kim Yong, former deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute, and Lee Hwa-young, former deputy governor of peace in Gyeonggi Province, were reported to the prosecution for being accused of violating the Political Fund Act, allegedly making candidate Lee an accomplice.
Experts point out that the rampant filing of complaints undermines trust in the entire political sphere. Professor Cho Jin-man of Duksung Women's University noted, "If there are too many complaints, it instills in voters the perception that there are problems in the election," and stated, "Unless it is a critical matter, self-correction efforts are necessary before filing complaints."