Prosecutors said Tuesday they will charge former spy agency chief Won Sei-hoon with illegally interfering in politics before last year’s presidential election.

The longtime aide to former President Lee Myung-bak has been accused of directing his agents to advocate government policies and counter opposition claims online.

Wrapping up two months of investigation, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office plans to indict him on charges of violating the laws on elections and the National Intelligence Service, which ban public servants and intelligence agents from political and campaign activities. He will not be detained, officials said.

The prosecution is expected to announce the final results of the probe this week.

The decision came eight days before the six-month statute of limitations on election law violation expires next Wednesday.

The investigation team had delayed the indictment due to differences with senior officials including Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who reportedly objected applying the election law on the spy chief, which would damage the legitimacy of the election result.

The minister was reportedly opposed to arresting him, calling for stronger evidence of his charges.

Earlier in the day, the main opposition Democratic Party threatened to push for the dismissal of the minister for interfering with the prosecution’s investigation.

Sources said Won urged his subordinates to work to prevent “pro-North Korean” politicians from taking power, billing opposition presidential candidate Moon Jae-in as one such dangerous figure.

During the presidential campaign, the NIS agents ran online campaigns vilifying Moon and other opposition politicians including Lee Jung-hee of the Unified Progressive Party, according to the prosecutors’ office.

A psychological warfare team of NIS agents uploaded nearly 10,000 online posts and comments on political issues.

The team was dissolved later after their activities were unveiled by the opposition Democratic Party days before the Dec. 19 election.

The prosecutors also decided to indict former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Yong-pan without detention for allegedly trying to cover up the case during a police investigation late last year.

He will face charges of abuse of authority and violations of police and election laws, the prosecutors said.

Kim has allegedly interfered with the initial investigation by Suseo Police Station in southern Seoul.

In April, Kwon Eun-hee, a former chief investigator at Suseo Police Station who led the police investigation into the agents, revealed that the Seoul police headquarters attempted to influence the probe.

She said later she felt pressured when she received phone calls from high-ranking officials from the SMPA including Kim.

She was transferred to a different district police station in February while the investigation was underway.

The prosecution reportedly confirmed that the former SMPA chief had allegedly ordered the police investigators to announce an insufficient interim result three days before last year’s presidential election.

The police said in the announcement they had found no illegal activity done by the NIS agents.

Meanwhile, Won could face further charges in connection with a bribery scandal in which he received bribes from a now-bankrupt private construction firm.

During a raid into the construction firm in June, the prosecution seized documents reportedly containing a list of gifts, including luxury bags, clothes and gold worth tens of millions of won, given to Won.

The prosecutors do not rule out the possibility that the firm tried to lobby him to win public construction projects.


By Kim Young-won
(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)