Order to file false sexual harassment complaint against rival candidate... Bucheon mayoral candidate arrested and forwarded

(Suwon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwon Jun-woo = A prospective candidate who was accused of ordering a rival candidate to falsely accuse him of sexual harassment during the Bucheon mayoral primary of the Democratic Party of Korea ahead of the local elections in June of this year was detained and handed over to the Public Prosecution Office.

The Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency's Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 12th that it arrested Byeong-hwan Han, a preliminary candidate for Bucheon mayor of the Democratic Party on charges of being a teacher who made a false accusation, and Choi, a woman accused of making a false accusation, and transferred them to the Public Prosecution Office on the 6th.

In April of this year, Mr. Han is accused of giving Mr. Choi 1 million won in cash through his election campaign associate, Mr. Kim, a man in his 30s, and instructing him to submit a false complaint alleging that he had been forcibly harassed by rival candidate Seo Jin-woong.

On April 8 of this year, ahead of the Democratic Party's primary, Mr. Choi submitted a complaint to the police alleging that Candidate Seo touched a part of his body, but withdrew it two days later.

As a result of the investigation, it was determined that Candidate Seo was campaigning at a different location at the time stated in the complaint, and the police decided not to forward the case of Candidate Seo's alleged forcible harassment.

Afterwards, the police, who began an investigation following Candidate Seo's false accusation, first arrested and sent a camp official, Mr. Kim, last September, and further confirmed the circumstances of the criminal conspiracy and arrested Mr. Han and Mr. Choi at the end of October.

Mr. Kim, who was previously indicted, was sentenced to five years in prison at a final hearing held at the Pyeongtaek branch of the Suwon District Court on the 20th of last month and is scheduled to be sentenced in the first trial on December 1st.

Meanwhile, the police are also investigating how Candidate Seo's accusation became known to the outside world.

As a complaint was received from Candidate Seo's side on charges of leaking official secrets, the police booked intelligence officers from the Bucheon Ojeong Police Station and are investigating the specific circumstances in which the fact of the accusation was conveyed to local political circles.

A police official said, “It is true that we are investigating a current police officer accused of leaking official secrets,” and added, “We cannot disclose specific details as it is an investigation matter.”