Police investigate alleged NIS interference in election, impose travel ban on then spy chief

[Financial News] Police have launched an investigation into the National Intelligence Service (NIS) over allegations that it sought to influence the 2023 Seoul Gangseo-gu mayoral by-election.
On the 9th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) announced that it is investigating the 2023 security inspection of the National Election Commission (NEC) by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) on suspicion of abuse of authority and other charges.
Earlier this month, police sent investigators to the NIS headquarters in Naegok-dong, Seocho District, Seoul, and obtained internal documents related to the alleged election interference, submitted voluntarily by the agency. They also booked former NIS Director Kim Kyou-hyun as a suspect and placed him under a travel ban.
Ahead of the by-election, the NIS announced its security inspection results just before voting, stating that it had found multiple hacking vulnerabilities in the National Election Commission (NEC) ballot-counting system. Police are examining allegations that senior NIS officials were involved in deciding the timing of that announcement and that some of the inspection findings were partly false.
The by-election was held after former Gangseo-gu Mayor Kim Tae-woo received a final guilty verdict, and it became a head-to-head race between candidates from the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Following the NIS announcement, political circles were embroiled in controversy over early voting and ballot-counting procedures.
The investigation gained momentum after Park Sun-won, a Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker and former NIS official, filed a criminal complaint with police in October last year based on a related tip-off.
Police plan to summon, one by one, NIS officials who were involved in the security inspection after completing their analysis of the collected materials. The police stated that they will conduct the investigation "in accordance with the law and principles" through questioning of those involved.
425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seung-han Reporter