▲ Lee Tae-han, a non-standing commissioner of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission appointed as the special counsel to investigate the June 3 local election ballot shortage and other allegations, visits the joint prosecution-police investigation headquarters for the truth-finding of infringement on citizens' right to vote, set up at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on August 19.
Special Counsel Lee Tae-han, who is leading the investigation into the June 3 local election ballot shortage and other related issues, kicked off his official activities today (August 19) by paying a courtesy call to the joint prosecution-police investigation headquarters.
At around 1 p.m. today (August 19), Special Counsel Lee paid a courtesy visit to Kim Tae-hoon, the head of the joint investigation headquarters and the 3rd deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, to discuss case transfers and dispatched personnel.
This marks his first public external schedule since being appointed as special counsel yesterday.
After meeting with Head Kim for about an hour, Special Counsel Lee told reporters, "Given the internal staffing situation at the prosecution, it seems difficult to receive full support," but added, "We requested cooperation to the maximum extent possible."
He also conveyed that a significant portion of the joint investigation headquarters staff reacted positively to the prospect of being dispatched to the special counsel team.
In particular, Special Counsel Lee emphasized, "To verify altered, deleted, and restored data, we need to utilize the personnel from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office database forensics center."
Prior to meeting with Head Kim, Special Counsel Lee stated, "I will prioritize considering individuals with a fundamental understanding of digital forensics [for assistant special counsels] and carefully select reasonable candidates by weighing their investigative capabilities and intuition, among other factors."
Special Counsel Lee will investigate a total of 12 allegations, including the local election ballot shortage, manipulation of voting statistics, overseas junket trips by Election Commission officials, preferential hiring and promotions, and preferential private contracts tied to collusive ties with businesses.
Under the Special Counsel Act on the Election Commission, Lee will have a 20-day preparation period followed by an investigation period of up to 150 days to look into suspicions surrounding the Election Commission.
The special counsel team can be organized on a scale of up to 165 members, including 5 assistant special counsels and 20 dispatched prosecutors.
Ahead of the launch of the special counsel team, the joint investigation headquarters is also accelerating its final investigative steps today, summoning the head of the Seocho-gu Election Commission office as a suspect regarding the ballot shortage incident.
Regarding the voting statistics manipulation scandal, an official from the Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission appeared as a reference witness and underwent questioning.
Reference witness interrogations were also conducted on two officials from the National Election Commission in connection with suspicions surrounding overseas junket trips.
The joint investigation headquarters plans to continue scheduled interrogations through this week while organizing investigative records—including seized items and witness interrogation protocols—and reviewing personnel dispatches in parallel to prepare for transferring the case to the special counsel.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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