The special counsel team investigating the ballot paper shortage during the June 3 local elections (Special Counsel Lee Tae-han) will conduct its first summons interview one day after its launch, calling in an official from a civic group that filed a criminal complaint against former National Election Commission Chairman Roh Tae-ak and others.
The special counsel team will question Kim Soon-hwan, secretary general of the civic group Citizens' Livelihood Countermeasure Committee, at 2 p.m. on the 8th, according to legal sources on the 7th. It marks the first summons interview since the team was launched.
After the ballot paper shortage occurred on June 3, the group filed complaints with police and other authorities against Roh, the NEC's standing commissioner, its secretary general and other officials on charges including abuse of authority, dereliction of duty, occupational embezzlement, breach of trust and violations of the Public Official Election Act. A separate complaint named some 3,000 officials at election commissions in 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, 251 districts, cities and counties, and 3,487 towns, townships and neighborhoods. Kim was questioned as a complainant at the Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Bureau on June 8.
The case was transferred from the Seoul police unit to a joint prosecution-police investigation headquarters, and the special counsel team took over the investigation upon its launch. The joint headquarters had conducted preliminary work, including interviews with working-level officials.
The special counsel team, however, plans to re-examine the facts from the beginning rather than be bound by the joint headquarters' findings. Lee described the materials handed over by the joint headquarters as "a portion of the basic materials," adding, "We will not investigate on the premise of the joint headquarters' fact-finding results, but will start anew based on the special counsel team's own judgment."
The team chose Kim as its first summons target to grasp the status of the existing investigation and the contents of the complaints in its early stage, sources said. Based on Kim's statement and the investigative materials it received, the team plans to set the direction of its investigation, including the circumstances of the ballot paper shortage and where responsibility lies.
