People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop was investigated for violating the Public Official Election Act after suspicions were raised about former candidate Jeong Won-oh's trip to Cancun.

Investigation of suspects suspected of violating the Public Official Election Act on the first day of the National Assembly audit

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeon Jae-hoon = People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop, who was sued for raising suspicions about former Seoul mayoral candidate Jeong Won-oh's business trip to Cancun, Mexico, during his term as Seongdong-gu mayor, claimed on the 6th, "Not one of my remarks was false."

The Public Crimes Investigation Unit of the Metropolitan Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will investigate Rep. Kim as a suspect from 10 a.m. on this day on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act (publication of false facts).

Before starting the investigation, Rep. Kim held a press conference in front of the Mapo-gu Metropolitan Investigation Office building and said, "(The previous suspicions) were all based on specific and credible data," and added, "I verified the facts as much as I could, and there is not a single lie in what I said."

He then claimed, “Today is the day when the National Assembly audit begins, and I am standing in front of the police station. It is a clear suppression of the opposition party and the blatant killing of Kim Jae-seop by the Lee Jae-myung administration,” and “It is a blatant oppression by the political police.”

In addition, regarding former candidate Jeong Won-oh's explanation that it was a 'simple mistake' to indicate the gender of the civil servant who accompanied him on a business trip differently, he said, "It is a ridiculous excuse," and "That is a false fact."

Previously, at a press conference at the National Assembly on March 31, Rep. Kim raised suspicions that he went on a business trip to Cancun, Mexico with a civil servant named Lim in 2023 when former candidate Jeong was serving as the mayor of Seongdong-gu, and that Lim's gender was manipulated to be 'male' in the decision to review the official overseas business trip.

He also raised suspicions of personnel preferential treatment, saying, “After an overseas business trip, the female employee was rehired for a higher-level position at Seongdong-gu Office.”

In response, former candidate Jeong refuted that Mr. Lim, the civil servant accompanying him, was in charge of overseas affairs and that Cancun was a transit point.

It was claimed that the error in gender marking was a simple mistake on the part of the district office.

Last April, Mr. Lim, a civil servant, sued Rep. Kim on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

The police plan to investigate the circumstances surrounding the suspicions raised against Rep. Kim on this day.