CHANGWON — Police have dropped a case against a tipster and a reporter who raised allegations that the campaign of South Gyeongsang Province Governor Park Wan-su produced deepfake videos and mobilized government resources during the June 3 local elections.
The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency said on the 14th that it recently decided not to refer video producer A and JTBC reporter B to prosecutors. The two had been accused of violating the Public Official Election Act through the dissemination of false information and defamation of a candidate, as well as criminal defamation. Under the decision, police close a case without sending it to prosecutors when they find no criminal wrongdoing.
A reported to the National Election Commission that Park's camp had produced an illegal artificial intelligence video disparaging Kim Kyoung-soo, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for the provincial governorship, and posted it on a YouTube channel. A also alleged that provincial government officials were involved by directing the production of videos attacking Kim and providing internal documents. B was the first to report the allegations of official interference in the election.
Park's side filed a criminal complaint against the two with the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office in late May this year. The camp said the claims that it had ordered the production of illegal deepfake videos, that a dedicated deepfake team existed within the campaign, and reports that former and current provincial officials handed over materials and directed production were clearly false.
The camp also said the video in question was produced by A independently before the campaign office began operating and was posted on A's own YouTube channel before being taken down. Some materials provided by officials were no more than what had already appeared in news reports, and no video was produced on that basis, the camp said.
Police, who took over the case in June, concluded that the contents of the tip and the reporting could not be determined to be false. A police official said that, taking the submitted evidence as a whole, it was difficult to conclude that the tipster and the reporter had recognized what they disclosed as false information.
A filed a counter-complaint accusing Park's side of making a false accusation. Police are also investigating that case.
The underlying investigation into the deepfake video production and the alleged mobilization of government resources is continuing. Police are investigating former and current provincial officials on suspicion that, while working for Park's campaign, they recruited A to produce videos disparaging Kim and provided internal provincial documents and money. Former provincial official C and current official D are also suspected of setting up a de facto campaign office to handle video production while serving as public officials.
Prosecutors last month sought pre-trial detention warrants for four people, including three former and current provincial officials and the head of an outside design firm, but the court rejected all of them. The court cited the need to guarantee the right to defense and said there was little risk of evidence being destroyed. They are suspected of leaking internal provincial documents and setting up a de facto campaign office.
