Police Drop Public Official Election Act Violation Allegations Against President Lee Jae-myung Over Social Media Post Praising Jeong Won-oh

President Lee Jae-myung, who was reported to police over a social media post praising former Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-oh, has been cleared of the allegations without prosecution.

The Seoul Jongno Police Station announced that it decided not to forward the case against President Lee, who had been accused of violating the Public Official Election Act, on July 13th of last month.

Lee Jong-bae, a former member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, had filed a complaint alleging that President Lee violated provisions of the Public Official Election Act prohibiting public officials from promoting the achievements of a candidate after posting a message praising former Mayor Jeong on X (formerly Twitter) in December of last year.

At the time, President Lee posted a news article on X stating that Seongdong District had received a positive evaluation exceeding 90 percent in a resident satisfaction survey regarding district administration. Along with the link, he wrote, "Former Mayor Jeong Won-oh must be really good at his job. My own satisfaction rating as Seongnam Mayor was quite high, but I can't even compare."

Police explained the decision not to forward the case by stating that it is difficult to view the post as promotional content for former Mayor Jeong's achievements, and that the cited article reflects the accomplishments of Seongdong District as an administrative entity rather than Jeong as an individual.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.