ULSAN — Police have cleared Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Yong-sik of allegations that he listed false credentials in campaign materials for the June 3 local elections, the ninth nationwide simultaneous local vote.
The Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency said on the 2nd that it had decided not to refer Cho to prosecutors, finding no grounds for the charges. Cho had been booked on suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act and the Local Education Autonomy Act.
Cho was accused by rival candidate Kim Joo-hong of including phrases such as "No. 1 in announcing education superintendent pledges" and "25 years as a classroom teacher" in his campaign flyer, and of emphasizing the numeral "1" in a way that evoked a particular party's ballot number.
Police concluded that the phrases largely matched the facts and that there was no specific intent to exert undue influence on voters.
While Cho has been cleared, investigations continue into Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-wook and Nam-gu District Chief Lim Hyun-chul, both of whom face criminal complaints over alleged election law violations in the same vote.
Kim faces allegations of spreading false information in connection with claims that he attempted to cover up a prostitution case in the Philippines and intervened in opinion polling. Kim's side has called the accusations a baseless political attack. Lim is accused of omitting some debts when reporting his assets in campaign materials, and has said it was a simple error.
The statute of limitations for offenses tied to the June 3 local elections expires on Dec. 3 this year. During an intensive investigation period, police closed 57 of 84 criminal complaints involving election offenses in Ulsan, or 67.9%, either by referring them to prosecutors or declining to do so. Investigations into the remaining 27 cases are continuing.
