Police summon CLMC secretary-general who questioned Choo Mi-ae's status as a person of merit

"Not meant to keep her from being elected; an act of violence against a civic group," he protests.

Police have summoned Kim Sunhwan, secretary-general of the Citizens' Livelihood Measures Committee (CLMC), who raised suspicions about then-Democratic Party of Korea Gyeonggi Province gubernatorial candidate Choo Mi-ae's registration as a person of merit for the 5·18 Democratization Movement ahead of the 6·3 local elections.

Kim Soonhwan, secretary-general of the Committee for Measures to Protect Ordinary People's Livelihood, is seen arriving at Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul on the 13th to undergo questioning as a person accused of publishing false information in violation of the Public Official Election Act and defaming someone under the Information and Communications Network Act. Photo by Lee Jiye.

On the afternoon of the 13th, Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul questioned Kim as a suspect on charges of publishing false information in violation of the Public Official Election Act and defaming someone under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

Kim is suspected of publishing false information and defaming Choo during a press conference at the National Assembly on June 1, when he called for verification of whether Choo, then a candidate, had been registered as a person of merit for the 5·18 Democratization Movement.

According to the complaint, the complainant alleged that Kim raised suspicions based on false information two days before the 6·3 local elections with the aim of preventing Choo from being elected.

After the questioning that day, Kim told reporters, "The press conference was not intended to prevent Choo from being elected. It was held in the public interest, to ask the government to clearly verify the suspicions surrounding the list of people of merit for the 5·18 Democratization Movement. If I had really intended to prevent her from being elected, I would have raised the issue when she registered as a candidate."

He also said, "The complaint was filed on June 4, and I received no contact for four months. I wonder why they are questioning me as a person accused of a crime at this point." He added, "I see this as another act of violence against a civic group and an attempt to prevent us from acting independently. I will take it as a declaration of war against our civic group."

Choo Mi-ae has previously maintained that she is not a person of merit for the 5·18 Democratization Movement. In February 2019, she also said on social media that she was not a person of merit and dismissed related claims as fake news. The list of people of merit is not made public, citing reasons including the protection of personal information.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.