The special counsel team on Monday ramped up its probe into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee’s alleged meddling in the People Power Party's candidate nomination process for the June 2022 elections.
The team conducted a search and seizure at the home and office of Rep. Lee Jun-seok in Seoul. Lee is currently the leader of the minor opposition Reform Party and was chair of the conservative People Power Party during the 2022 poll for local elections and by-elections for empty parliamentary seats, which took place simultaneously.
The investigation centers on claims that Yoon and his wife, through self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun, influenced the party to nominate former lawmaker Kim Young-sun as a candidate for the by-election in June 2022. In exchange, Myung allegedly fabricated support for Yoon in polls when Yoon was running for president that same year. Kim, a sole PPP candidate, won the election for the constituency in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, which was considered a right-wing stronghold.
Lee is reportedly considered a suspect in the case, facing charges of obstruction of duty, as investigators believe that Lee may have played a role in the nomination process.
The raid took place just one day after Lee was elected as the new head of the Reform Party on Sunday. Lee criticized the timing of the operation, calling it "suspicious" during a YouTube interview with local broadcaster Channel A.
He pointed to the change in administration from former President Yoon, who was impeached and removed from office, to President Lee Jae Myung, who was elected in June to replace him.
"I already clearly stated what I did and didn't say," he said, referring to his questioning by prosecutors last November. "Now that the investigative body has changed, maybe they want to verify more," said Lee.
Earlier on Monday, the Reform Party canceled its scheduled leadership meeting, denouncing the raid as politically motivated.
"We cannot shake off the suspicion that this was a media stunt aimed at humiliating us," Rep. Chun Ha-ram of the Reform Party said during a press briefing at the National Assembly in Seoul.
Chun stressed that the party had fully cooperated with investigators, adding that the raid on a lawmaker’s office was excessive as the case involves matters that took place before Lee’s election to the National Assembly in April 2024.
According to the special counsel, Lee is also considered a reference in a separate case involving Kim before the 2024 general election. Investigators are expected to review his role in a meeting on Feb. 29, 2024, at Chilbulsa Temple in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, where Myung, Kim Young-sun, Reform Party floor leader Chun and Lee were present.
The meeting took place after Kim failed to secure the nomination of the People Power Party in the 2024 general election, in contrast to 2022, when she was nominated and ran in the by-election. The Reform Party leadership later rejected a request from Kim to nominate her.
A separate case added further complexity to the situation.
Choi Ho, a former Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly member and 2022 Pyeongtaek mayoral candidate, was found dead early Sunday in a mountainous area in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
Choi had been questioned in April as a witness in the investigation into allegations that the Yoon couple had intervened in the People Power Party’s nomination process to make him a candidate without a primary in the 2022 local election. Choi, who ran for mayor of Pyeongtaek as a candidate of the People Power Party, lost the election.
The special counsel said it had no direct contact with Choi in relation to the ongoing investigation.
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