Lee Jae-myung (Yonhap)
Lee Jae-myung (Yonhap)

Seoul police said Monday two suspects have been identified as having posted online death threats against Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Another 217 individuals are currently under investigation for potentially unlawful activities related to the upcoming June 3 election, they added.

Park Hyun-soo, the acting chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said in a regular media briefing that three cases related to murder threats against Lee have been reported to police, with the cybercrime unit of the SMPA handling two and Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station taking the other one.

State-of-the-art police equipment and larger number of police officers than usual have been dispatched for the special security duties of the presidential candidates.

The National Police Agency said last week that it had received reports of nine online threats against candidates, eight of which were against Lee and one against Lee Jun-seok of the minor New Reform Party.

Lee of the DP survived an assassination attempt in 2024 by a 66-year-old man with far-right political inclinations.

Regarding the reported new assassination plots against Lee, a clear frontrunner, and the party's request for heightened security, Park said the police have not received significant intelligence that would justifiy further reinforcement of existing security measures. The SMPA has already enforced security efforts on request of the Democratic Party, he added.

A total of 217 are currently under investigation for 127 possibly illegal activities related to the election, with 15 of them being probed for seven cases related to deepfake video crimes. Police have requested the National Forensic Service for an analysis on the videos, and will check to see if they constitute a violation of the Public Official Election Act.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com