Police have launched an investigation into alleged false accusation by Park Cheol-min, a former member of the Seongnam International Mafia. Park, ahead of the 2022 presidential election, raised allegations that then-Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung was linked to organized crime.
According to police and others on the 25th, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency is investigating Park on suspicion of falsely accusing the president. Earlier, in 2021, Park filed a complaint with the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office alleging that President Lee, then the governor of Gyeonggi Province, Lee Jun-seok, former head of Komatrade and a businessman from the Seongnam International Mafia, and a person surnamed Kim, the main culprit in the Pattaya murder case, had close ties. The Suwon prosecutors referred the case to the Gyeonggi Nambu Agency, and police determined that Park's allegations were not true.
In particular, attorney Jang Young-ha, who raised the organized crime allegations against the president alongside Park, received a final conviction at the Supreme Court on the 12th of last month. In response, police began investigating Park for false accusation.
Attorney Jang, who had been Park's legal representative, claimed at a press conference and elsewhere, based on Park's remarks, that the president received about 2 billion won in return for granting business favors to the Seongnam International Mafia side. As a result, a sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years, was finalized on charges of announcing false information under the Public Official Election Act.
Park also faces charges of announcing false information of the same nature. He was reportedly given a finalized sentence of one year and six months in Aug. 2024.
Earlier last month, after attorney Jang's conviction was finalized, the president said on social media (SNS), "There are still many people in the world who think of me as linked to organized crime," adding, "Media that report without fact-checking, media that intentionally fabricate and distort, and media that irresponsibly relay baseless false claims are more frightening than a weapon."