Police have launched an investigation into an aide to a senior opposition lawmaker for allegedly giving cash to local residents to recruit mobile votes.

Namwon police summoned an election staff member for Rep. Lee Kang-rae, the main opposition Democratic United Party candidate in Namwon and Sunchang, North Jeolla Province, officials said Tuesday.

The 47-year-old aide, surnamed Kim, is suspected of delivering 750,000 won ($667) in cash to a 53-year-old housewife for recruiting mobile voters to vote for Lee.

Lee, a third-term lawmaker, won the party’s sole candidacy last Tuesday through a preliminary race which involved public polls and mobile voting.

The DUP member, however, denied the allegations.

“Kim was in charge of the female voters in the constituency, but no money was involved in the process,” said an official of his election office.

Lee Yong-ho, who lost the nomination race, accused Rep. Lee of illicit campaigning and mobile vote-buying, demanding that he renounce his candidacy.

“Rep. Lee turned out to have paid female voters to manipulate the race in his favor,” said Lee Monday.

He also called for the party headquarters to cancel the nomination, should the lawmaker refuse to step down.

Rep. Lee, however, criticized candidates who would not accept the party’s nomination results, as well as DUP defectors who formed a non-party alliance against their former party.

“Their actions are in violation of fundamental democratic principles, and should be ended immediately,” he said.

This is not the first time for the party to be implicated in an internal vote-buying allegation, especially in its longtime stronghold regions where competition has been fierce among aspiring candidates.

The Gwangju prosecution earlier arrested local officials for organizing an unregistered campaign group to support Rep. Park Joo-sun.

Leaders of a local women’s society were also suspected of manipulating the mobile vote during the candidacy race.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)