Former Leader Jeong Cheong-rae Accused of Ignoring Jeonbuk Opinion Poll Manipulation

Former Jinan County Mayor preliminary candidate Han Su-yong claimed that he repeatedly reported allegations of public opinion manipulation during the June 3 local elections to the central party, but they were ignored. He said, "The problem is that party leader Jeong Cheong-rae was aware of these numerous warnings. He ignored all of them despite knowing." He added that under Jeong Cheong-rae's leadership at the time, this matter was not even placed on the agenda, and Han Su-yong's alternative proposal for a 100% party member primary was not accepted.

Han Su-yong stated that he conveyed the public opinion manipulation allegations through various channels within the central party, but to no avail. He said, "Lee Hyun-joo, then a supreme council member, Kang Deuk-gu, a supreme council member, and Assemblyman Hwang Myeong-seon, among others, all knew about this incident. So they approached party leader Jeong Cheong-rae, then Secretary-General Jo Seung-rae, and then the Ethics Tribunal... I also submitted to Jang Yoon-jae's side, and other candidates also submitted, an enormous number of submissions out of eight." He added that he also tried to raise awareness about the seriousness of the issue through press conferences and collaborations with civic groups.

Han Su-yong claimed that the allegations of public opinion manipulation were belatedly placed on the Supreme Council's closed-door agenda but ended with ineffective measures. He recounted the situation, saying, "Jeong Cheong-rae, the leader, told the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency to make an interim announcement regarding this public opinion manipulation case or such cases... Then, he said he would stop this and pass it on to the strategy committee. I don't know if this was public or private in the Supreme Council. I heard directly from a Supreme Council member that this came out." However, the police did not make an interim announcement, citing interference with the investigation, and ultimately, the interim announcement discussed by the Supreme Council was not implemented.

Han Su-yong stated that his request to halt the primary election due to contamination of anonymous phone numbers was not granted. He criticized the decision to proceed with the primary election in the old manner, saying, "First, this primary election should have been stopped. If a public opinion survey or primary is conducted with these contaminated anonymous numbers, it deviates from the actual will of the citizens. The police did not announce an interim result, so they just proceeded with the primary election according to the method they had previously decided." He claims that this decision effectively led to a result dictated by election brokers.

Han Su-yong raised questions about the accountability of the central party's leadership at the time and emphasized the need for an investigation. He asserted, "I believe that not only for the head of the local government but also for the former leader Jeong Cheong-rae, who ignored such numerous petitions and complaints, there should be at least a witness investigation." This statement suggests the possibility of organized neglect at the central party level, beyond mere public opinion manipulation.

Han Su-yong revealed the content of the petition he submitted at the time, stating that he requested a careful review of the nomination primary process. The recipient of this document was 'To the Leader of the Democratic Party,' and the title was 'Request for Careful Review of Nomination Primary Process Related to Last Week.' He added, "Because there were many problems with this public opinion survey... even though I proposed an alternative of conducting the public opinion survey only with party members, they ignored all of this and proceeded with the primary election, ultimately making it a 'daepo' (straw poll) primary."

The host pointed out that the investigation into the allegations of public opinion manipulation faced difficulties. He explained, "In cases of public opinion manipulation, the police tried to do something, but the Jeonju Prosecutor's Office and Jeonju District Court repeatedly rejected search and seizure warrants, making the investigation very difficult." He added that eventually, around April, they were able to secure a warrant by circumventing the Jeonju District Prosecutor's Office and going to another prosecutor's office.

The host criticized the passive response of the leadership at the time, arguing that then-leader Jeong Cheong-rae made decisions to evade responsibility by using the police investigation results as an excuse. He commented, "Whether he knew or did not know these facts, then-leader Jeong Cheong-rae simply thought expediently, 'If the police find a problem, we change it; if the police don't announce anything, we proceed with the old method.'" This is a criticism that instead of approaching the issue with a sense of responsibility before an important election, he made a convenient judgment.

The host raised questions about the Democratic Party's fairness by comparing it to the case of former Jeonbuk Governor Kim Kwan-young. He questioned, "In the case of former Jeonbuk Governor Kim Kwan-young, as shown in the video, he was immediately expelled on the same day without even grasping the specific circumstances. The party's own internal investigation was enough for them to take such swift and decisive action within a day, without waiting for police investigation results, so why are they so passive about this public opinion poll...?" This points out that despite taking swift action, such as expelling Governor Kim Kwan-young on the same day, the party showed a passive attitude toward the allegations of public opinion manipulation.

The host stated that he sought advice from Choi Jong-ho, CEO of FM Architect and a public opinion survey expert, regarding this matter. Choi Jong-ho served as an evaluator for the Democratic Party's June 3 local elections and provided an expert analysis of the increase in anonymous phone numbers and response rates. The host said, "I consulted with Choi Jong-ho, CEO of FM Architect."

Choi Jong-ho pointed out that an increase of 3,000 anonymous phone numbers in Jinan County within a month is abnormal. He said, "In a place like Jinan, where the total population is only about 20,000, an increase of 3,000 people in a month is not logically understandable. If at least 1,000 or 3,000 numbers increased, wouldn't it be more reasonable to assume that people joined in an organized manner?" This analysis suggests that such a rapid increase in numbers in a small city of 20,000 people cannot be explained without organized participation.

Choi Jong-ho emphasized that a 50% response rate in a wireless ARS public opinion survey is abnormal. He explained, "Normally, a legitimate wireless ARS response rate is 5% to 10%, and while people pay attention during a primary, 50% is an absolutely absurd and abnormal figure. It's not easy to achieve such a rate unless people are on standby. Especially, it's difficult to find women in their 30s." This suggests the possibility of organized intervention to artificially inflate the response rate by having specific support groups on standby.

Choi Jong-ho raised the possibility of organized intervention by other support groups outside the Democratic Party and pointed out the loopholes in the current public opinion survey system. He said, "I believe that in this party convention survey, too, realistically, support groups other than those for the Democratic Party, such as those for the People Power Party or other groups, were deceitfully responding. There are technical ways to filter these out, but I am disappointed that the survey was conducted too easily, overlooking such aspects." This is a criticism that the intervention of other support groups could not be prevented due to the survey being conducted carelessly without technical filtering.