Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty and Innovation Party. Yonhap News TV capture

Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty and Innovation Party (former Prime Minister), has been cleared of charges related to alleged tampering with ballot boxes.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Crime Investigation Division announced on the 11th that it decided not to send the case to prosecution, ruling "no charges" for the accusation filed by the Seoul Seocho District chapter of the National Civil Servant Union in June, charging Hwang and his "Anti-Election Fraud and Corruption Task Force (Bu-Bang Dae)" with violations of the Public Official Election Act during the 21st general election.

According to the police's decision not to prosecute Hwang and Bu-Bang Dae, it was determined that "while Hwang recommended Bu-Bang Dae members as vote observers and educated them to sign the ballot box seals in an interlineation (inter-sealing) method beforehand, the act of interlineation did not result in the ballot box seals or the ballot boxes losing their original value or function, and thus does not constitute tampering with ballot boxes under the Public Official Election Act."

Interlineation is a legal procedure to prevent forgery and ensure document continuity, where a stamp or signature is placed partially on the overlapping boundary between the front and back of each page of multiple documents or contracts to prove they are a single set.

Furthermore, regarding an incident where a Bu-Bang Dae member argued with a poll worker while filming the sealing process of the voting equipment, the police concluded that it was difficult to recognize it as an act of disturbance due to reasons such as: △ the election had already concluded, therefore not affecting the voting process, and △ the Bu-Bang Dae member's protest lasted only about 5 minutes, and it was not confirmed that the ballot station cleanup process was interrupted due to the protest.

Meanwhile, the police have forwarded to the prosecution a case where the National Election Commission accused Hwang of violating the Public Official Election Act, alleging that the Bu-Bang Dae organization was utilized for election campaigning, a move expected to face backlash from the Bu-Bang Dae side.

Editorial Department, Korea-US Daily