On the first day of early voting for the 21st presidential election, a 60-year-old election worker, accused of casting a proxy vote in her husband's name, told reporters on the way to a hearing on January 1, "I made a wrong choice in the moment," and claimed, "My husband doesn't know."
On the same day at 2 p.m., Judge Yeom Hye-soo of the Seoul Central District Court conducted a pre-arrest questioning (warrant review) for a person surnamed Park, who is facing charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, for about one hour.
Mr. Park is said to be a contract employee affiliated with the health center in Gangnam District, Seoul. He was appointed as an election worker ahead of this presidential election and was responsible for issuing ballots to voters.
Mr. Park is suspected of having issued a ballot using his husband's identification card at an early voting site in Daechi 2-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, on the 29th of last month, and of having cast his own vote using his identification card about five hours later.
As Mr. Park entered the detention hearing, reporters asked him, "Why did you cast a proxy vote?" Mr. Park replied, "I am sorry." When asked if he had planned the crime in advance, he said, "Not at all. I made a wrong choice in the moment."
Mr. Park came out after finishing the detention hearing at around 2:49 p.m. When reporters asked, "Does your husband know about the proxy vote?" Mr. Park replied, "Not at all."
Whether Mr. Park will be detained will be decided as early as that night, but no later than early on the 2nd.