Chong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayor, said the campaign would file a complaint against Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, and general chief Kim Seon-dong on charges of obstruction of business and violating the Public Official Election Act. Chong's camp said media reports revealed indications of organized smears and opinion manipulation by Oh's side.
On the morning of the 29th, Rep. Lee Hae-sik, who serves as general chief of staff for Chong Won-o's campaign, referred to a media report from the day before at the National Assembly and said, "Within Oh Se-hoon's campaign, there were very specific indications that smear content targeting Chong Won-o was directly planned and produced, and distributed in an organized manner."
The report included allegations that an internal unit of Oh's election committee directly planned and produced smear content aimed at Chong, and distributed it in an organized way.
Lee went on to say, "Through a group KakaoTalk chat room titled 'Oh Se-hoon Camp SNS Comrades,' card news and Shorts-style videos were spread in an organized manner, and there were even indications that individual distribution performance was to be tracked."
Calling it "organized online black propaganda that exceeds the scope of normal campaign promotion," Lee said, "We will move to file a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency not only against general chief Kim but also against Oh, holding them responsible for obstruction of business under the Criminal Act and violations of the Public Official Election Act."
Immediately after the briefing, Lee told reporters that Oh was included among those to be reported because "it is hard to see the organized planning and distribution as a unilateral decision at the headquarters level," adding, "We determined it is necessary to clearly determine whether charges apply by including Oh, who bears political responsibility."