Former Korea Communications Commission Chairperson Lee Jin-sook appeared before police on the 27th for a third round of questioning. Lee is under suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act over a post made on Facebook during the last presidential election period.
The Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul summoned the former Chairperson at 1 p.m. that day as a suspect. Lee was arrested on the 2nd under a warrant issued by a court and was released on the 4th after the court granted a detention review. Lee was questioned twice while in custody. This questioning comes 23 days after Lee was released.
Arriving at Yeongdeungpo Police Station 15 minutes before the questioning, the former Chairperson told reporters, "As an ordinary citizen, when I saw the police, I felt reassured, and when I saw a police station, I thought, 'They will solidly protect citizens, they will protect my safety.'"
Lee added, "But after spending three days and two nights in a 2 to 3-pyeong cell at Yeongdeungpo Police Station, I thought the police could be used as a tool of power, and that this is truly dangerous."
Lee said, "Now, when I see the police, I feel uneasy. I feel fear. I think, 'They could come and detain me at any time,'" adding, "What can happen to someone like me can happen to all free citizens, to anyone."
Lee also criticized Minister of Government Legislation Cho Won-cheol for answering at a National Assembly audit on the 24th that all 12 charges facing President Lee Jae-myung are not guilty, asking, "Is this a law-governed state?" Cho previously served as an attorney in President Lee's Daejang-dong case.
Lee is accused of making politically biased remarks or engaging in pre-campaigning through conservative-leaning YouTube channels in September to October last year and March to April this year, in violation of the Public Official Election Act and the State Public Officials Act.
In March, Lee posted on Facebook a piece titled "If acting President Choi (Choi Sang-mok, then acting president) is a flagrant offender, then Lee Jae-myung, then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is also a (dereliction of duty) flagrant offender."
Regarding the post, Lee said, "In March, Lee Jae-myung, then Democratic Party leader, criticized acting President Choi for not appointing Constitutional Court Justice Ma Eun-hyeok and called it a 'flagrant offender of dereliction of duty,'" adding, "If acting President Choi is a flagrant offender, I only argued the logic that the Democratic Party, Democratic Party lawmakers, and the Democratic Party leader, who did not appoint a standing Commissioner to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), are flagrant offenders of dereliction of duty." Lee continued, "Is this a violation of political neutrality and electioneering?" and argued, "This is a matter of reading comprehension."