Police said they received four complaints from civic groups against Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party of Korea and others over allegations of tampering with an audio file of a meeting between Cho Hui-dae and Han Duck-soo.
A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official said at a regular press briefing on the 22nd that four complaints had been filed between the 18th and the 20th for alleged defamation by stating false facts. The official added, however, that no complaints or accusations had yet been filed by the four people who appear in the audio file, including Chief Justice Cho Hui-dae, or by party officials. Police will review the complaints and consider assigning the case for investigation.
Earlier, on May 14 at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Rep. Seo said "a tip was received," played a transcript released by the YouTube channel "Open Mind TV," and raised the allegation that "after Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment, four people—Jeong Sang-myeong, Han Duck-soo, Kim Chun-sik, and Cho Hui-dae—held a meeting." But the opposition argued the transcript was "fake news using artificial intelligence (AI)."
On the 20th, the civic group People's Livelihood Countermeasures Committee filed a complaint against Rep. Seo for alleged abuse of power, violation of the election law, and other charges, based on the opposition's claim.
Meanwhile, Open Mind TV was reported to be planning to file a complaint on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act against Rep. Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party, who claimed their report was "fake news," but a police official said, "Nothing has been received yet" regarding the case.
Police also said they assigned to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's anti-corruption investigation unit the complaint against People Power Party lawmakers Kweon Seong-dong and Lee Cheol-kyu, who are suspected of involvement in lobbying to save the position of Bae Sang-yoon, chairman of KH Group, who is entangled in allegations of illegal remittances to North Korea.
Police said they are analyzing the reasons for the court's dismissal of an arrest warrant for Son Hyo-suk, head of the history education group "Reebok School." Based on the analysis and the future course of the investigation, police plan to reconsider whether to reapply for a warrant.
Police also said they have transferred 14 of the KT small-amount payment fraud cases received so far to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency.