Special Prosecutor Lee Tae-han asks Serious Crimes Investigation Agency for 10 investigators, starting with “temporary support”

[Financial News] Lee Tae-han, special prosecutor for the National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea (NEC), visited the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA) on the 23rd and requested personnel support for 10 investigators. SCIA chief Kim Ji-hoon is reported to have said he would actively consider providing temporary investigative support. Lee also expressed condolences for an NEC official who died after recently being questioned as part of the special prosecutor’s investigation.
At around 2:49 p.m. that day, Lee visited the SCIA headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, and told reporters, “I pray for the repose of the deceased, who passed away during the investigation, and offer my words of comfort to the bereaved family.” He referred questions about the circumstances of the death and the investigation to his previously issued statement.
Lee said he would ask Chief Kim to assign at least 10 investigators. “I’m well aware that the SCIA does not have enough investigators,” he said, adding, “The NEC special prosecutor’s investigation has a limited timeframe, and it is unique in that we must establish the facts behind the various allegations involving the NEC, an issue of great public interest.”
He particularly emphasized the shortage of digital forensic personnel despite the broad scope of the investigation. Lee said, “The investigation covers a very wide range, including fact-finding into ballot shortages, voter turnout manipulation, and other allegations involving the NEC.” He added, “The forensic examination of the servers for the NEC’s election management system has been ongoing for at least a month, and preliminary investigative work has consequently taken considerable time.”
He added, “We are still seriously short of forensic personnel, particularly those who analyze databases. I plan to ask for the SCIA’s highly capable forensic specialists to be made available on an as-needed basis for key locations slated for future search-and-seizure operations.”
On the direction of the investigation, he said the focus would be on uncovering the substance of the allegations rather than achieving visible results such as the number of people detained. Lee said, “This is in no way an investigation focused on outcomes such as the number of people detained. The focus is on identifying the causes of ballot shortages and voter turnout manipulation during the election process and finding out what actually happened.” Asked about the progress of investigations into senior judges, he replied only, “It’s going well.”
After meeting with Chief Kim at around 3:37 p.m., Lee said, “(Chief Kim) said he would actively consider providing temporary investigative support.”
However, Lee said he had been told that, given the SCIA’s own staffing shortage, the agency would determine how many personnel were willing to provide support, review the overall situation, and then respond to the request to assign investigators.
Lee added that if temporary investigative support is provided, he plans to request personnel only for key locations subject to search and seizure.
 
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter