Former NIS Director Kim Gyu-hyun Questioned by Police over Alleged Interference in Gangseo District Mayoral By-election

Kim Gyu-hyun, former director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), appeared before police over allegations that he attempted to influence the 2023 Seoul Gangseo-gu mayoral by-election.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Division began questioning the former NIS chief at 9:30 a.m. on the 12th. He is being investigated as a suspect on charges including abuse of authority to interfere with the exercise of rights and violations of the Public Official Election Act.
Kim arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit building in Mapo District, Seoul, at around 9:19 a.m. that day. When reporters asked questions such as, "What will you clarify in today's questioning?", "Was the announcement made the day before the vote intended to influence the election?", and "Did you personally order the security inspection announcement?", he did not respond and headed straight to the interrogation room.
According to police, Kim is suspected of being involved in the process by which the NIS announced the results of a security inspection of the National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea (NEC) ahead of the Seoul Gangseo-gu mayoral by-election held on October 11, 2023, in an attempt to influence the election.
At the time, on October 10, 2023, one day before the main vote, the NIS announced security inspection results stating that "multiple hacking vulnerabilities were found in the NEC's voting and ballot-counting systems." The inspection was carried out between July and September of the same year using a "simulated hacking" method in cooperation with the NEC and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). The explanation included the possibility of registering phantom voters, manipulating whether someone had cast an early ballot, and altering vote counts.
The announcement sparked political controversy at the time over the "possibility of election fraud." The NEC countered that it was impossible to manipulate election results.
Police launched the investigation after a complaint was filed last October by Park Sun-won of the Democratic Party of Korea, who previously worked at the NIS. In January this year, investigators booked Kim as a suspect and imposed a travel ban.
That same month, police also secured internal documents related to the security inspection from the NIS headquarters in Seocho District, Seoul, and are examining them to determine how the announcement was made and whether any orders were given.
425_sama@fnnews.com Reporter Choi Seung-han Reporter