Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun faces ‘illegal recruitment of party members with voting rights’ allegations; former political appointee arrested

[Financial News] A former Suwon City official has been arrested in connection with allegations of illegal recruitment of party members with voting rights by people on the side of Lee Jae-jun, mayor of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, which emerged during this year’s 9th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections.
According to legal sources and others on the 10th, Kim Hong-seop, the judge in charge of warrants at Suwon District Court, held a pre-arrest suspect examination for A, a former political appointee with Suwon City suspected of violating the Public Official Election Act, among other charges, on the afternoon of the same day. He issued an arrest warrant, citing “concerns about evidence being destroyed and flight.” By contrast, the court rejected warrants for five others who also faced possible arrest alongside A, including an incumbent public official, a former associate of Mayor Lee’s campaign, and supporters.
A and others are suspected of illegally recruiting party members with voting rights ahead of the Democratic Party of Korea’s internal primary for the June 3 local elections, with the aim of helping Mayor Lee win.
The case came to light on March 10, when a citizen submitted related recordings and a criminal complaint to the police. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency searched A’s office inside Suwon City Hall and the Democratic Party of Korea’s Gyeonggi Provincial Party office, among other locations, and secured relevant materials, including mobile phones and party membership lists. After analyzing the materials, the police requested pre-arrest detention warrants late last month for six people whose alleged involvement they considered relatively clear.
Mayor Lee himself was not among those targeted by the warrant applications in this case. In a statement issued in May, his campaign team had categorically denied the allegations, saying, “A was not part of the election campaign, and Mayor Lee has nothing to do with this case.”
The police plan to continue investigating the specific circumstances of the illegal recruitment of party members with voting rights by questioning A and others, while also pursuing the investigation to determine whether Mayor Lee conspired in the scheme.
[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter