Ahead of the last presidential election, the head of a conservative group accused of posting banners containing political claims such as "KakaoTalk censorship" was handed over to prosecutors.
According to police and others on the 7th, the Seoul Suseo Police Station sent without detention to the prosecution on the 31st of last month the head of the civic group "Institute of Health Studies & Human Rights," a person surnamed Kim, on suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act.
Kim is accused of hanging banners on June 1, two days before the presidential election, near the main gates of about 200 high schools in Seoul with phrases such as "KakaoTalk/Instagram censorship," "Don't block my words," and "The choice of 12th graders can protect freedom of expression."
At the time, the Democratic Party of Korea said it would file complaints if ordinary citizens spread fake news on social media (SNS) such as KakaoTalk related to the Dec. 3 emergency martial law, which is interpreted as a criticism likening it to "KakaoTalk censorship."
The Public Official Election Act bans the installation of advertising materials such as banners "to influence an election" starting 120 days before election day. However, in the case of the last presidential election, it applied from Apr. 4, when the by-election was confirmed after former President Yoon Suk-yeol was removed from office.
The Institute of Health Studies & Human Rights led by Director Kim, along with groups such as "Reebak School," which police are currently investigating over alleged comment manipulation, has designated works such as Han Kang's "The Vegetarian" as harmful books for youth and carried out campaigns to discard harmful books in school libraries.