Office of Close Friend of President Moon Raided as Part of Online Opinion Rigging Scandal

Here is the latest update in the Druking online opinion rigging scandal:

Special prosecutors raided the residence and office of South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo on Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation into a massive manipulation of online political comments by an arrested power blogger.

Investigators were sent to search the premises in Changwon, 398 kilometers south of the capital, they said.

The blogger, better known as Druking, has been accused of manipulating clicks on Internet news comments to sway public opinion in favor of the ruling Democratic Party.

Kim, who was elected as the governor in the June local elections, allegedly communicated with Druking frequently through untraceable messenger apps. He has denied any involvement in the alleged crime.

Kim is currently on summer vacation and is scheduled to return to office soon, according to his office.

It is the second time the special prosecution sought to search Kim’s workplace and home. They requested the first search warrant to a Seoul court Tuesday and were denied.

Prosecutors are said to have obtained enough evidence to bring Kim in for formal questioning as a suspect by summoning him, possibly over the weekend.

An assistant prosecutor told a press briefing that Kim was cited as an alleged accomplice to Druking in the search warrant.

Kim said on his Facebook page that he could not understand why prosecutors raided his provincial office that opened just about one month ago, but he will cooperate with prosecutors’ investigation.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but how much evidence do the prosecutors think they would find in an office that is a month old?  I would not be surprised that this is all to create the appearance that there is nothing linking Kim Kyoung-soo to Druking.

For those that don’t know Kim Kyoung-soo is a trusted friend and confidant of ROK President Moon Jae-in.  The power blogger called Druking alleges that Kim directed his team’s online opinion rigging operation to turn public opinion against liberal rival Ahn Cheol-soo and then conservative rivals during the last presidential election. When Druking’s team did not receive the political payback they had been promised they turned on Kim Kyoung-soo and began targeting President Moon with their opinion rigging software.  Once they turned on Moon that is when authorities arrested them, not when they were targeting conservatives.

I have always maintained that Kim Kyoung-soo and others from the Moon administration involved in this scandal would never be held accountable.  I would not be surprised if this “raid” is not just part of the cover up, I guess we will see.