Police opened an investigation after allegations surfaced that the father of Jeong I-han, former Reform Party Busan mayoral candidate, mobilized subsidiaries of On Group, which he runs, for his son's campaign.
On Group operates On Hospital, where the former candidate was taken at the time of the beverage-throwing incident that raised allegations of a staged act, as well as the Barometer polling institute.
According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's anti-corruption investigation unit on the 24th, police are investigating allegations that employees of On Group subsidiaries run by the former candidate's father were mobilized for the former candidate's campaign.
Police are looking into whether the former candidate's side instructed On Group subsidiary employees to post supportive comments for the former candidate before and after the campaign period, or ordered them to join a political party.
The Public Official Election Act prohibits using job-related actions within professional institutions and organizations to make members engage in campaign activities. It also bans using transactional status, such as that of subsidiaries or partner companies, to order members to campaign.
Police earlier began investigating the allegation that the former candidate staged the beverage-throwing incident. The former candidate said that on Apr. 27 near the Guseo interchange in Geumjeong District, Busan, a car driver threw a cup of a beverage at him, causing him to fall, and he was diagnosed with a concussion and muscle contusion.
At the time, the former candidate received those diagnoses at On Hospital, an On Group subsidiary, and police are questioning a man in his 30s as a suspect while also confirming allegations such as obstruction of official duties and dissemination of false information through searches and seizures of the former candidate's campaign office.