Lee Jong-won, 'Cleverly Change Region and Age' Real-Time Instruction Circumstances Captured… Supreme Council Member Rankings Almost Overturned

Circumstances were captured where broadcaster Lee Jong-won instructed viewers to falsely respond with a different region in public opinion polls for the national convention, citing that a specific region was 'closed.' The broadcast mentioned, "Since Seoul and Jeju are full, quickly do Gangwon or Gyeongbuk," suggesting a direction for responses. New탐사 asserts that the nature of this crime is more serious compared to the past case of Lee Jung-hee's aide.

Lee Jong-won received real-time reports of results from public opinion poll respondents and shared which regions and age groups were 'closed.' It was found that he went beyond mere reference and provided specific directions for responses. The host stated, "While receiving real-time reports from those who responded to the poll, sharing which regions and age groups were full, just telling them to refer to it might reduce the severity of the crime, but he personally spoke concretely."

Lee Jong-won specifically instructed viewers on air to select certain ages and regions when responding to public opinion polls. He said, "For age, be quick and choose 20s or 30s, as 40s, 50s, and 60s might be closed. At 1 hour, 22 minutes, and 5 seconds, he said, 'If you want to be quick and clever, choose Daegu Gyeongbuk or Gangwon in the 20s.'" It appears these instructions were confirmed to be carried out through real-time chat.

New탐사 pointed out that the ripple effect of this case is much greater than the public opinion poll manipulation case of Lee Jung-hee's aide, who was previously arrested. The host stated, "The texts sent by the arrested aide Lee Jung-hee and others were about 190, I saw. This is not just sending 190 texts. This was sent to tens of thousands of people," claiming that while Lee Jung-hee's case involved 190 people, this incident affected tens of thousands.

Examples of viewers who gave false responses according to Lee Jong-won's broadcast instructions were revealed. The host mentioned, "A 40-year-old woman from Seoul replied that she answered as a 20-year-old from Gangwon. Someone living in Daejeon answered as Daejeon in Gangwon. Someone living in Siheung, Gyeonggi, answered as a 20-year-old. A 67-year-old from Seoul answered as a 20-year-old from Daegu," listing actual response cases. These examples show that Lee Jong-won's instructions were actually reflected in the public opinion polls.

Lee Jong-won presented a calculation that a specific candidate could reverse the outcome in the national public opinion poll based on the number of responses he secured. In the recording, Lee Jong-won said, "There are 320,000 votes left in the national public opinion poll, and if candidate Jung Chung-rae wins by just 10% there, if he wins by 10% in Seoul and 10% in the national public opinion poll, it's a reversal. If he wins 10% out of 30% here, he catches up by 32,000 votes." He claimed that the national public opinion poll accounts for 30% and that he had secured over 200 informants.

Lee Jong-won gave specific instructions to viewers to respond to public opinion polls in real-time. The participant mentioned, "He told them to dial 080, receive calls, and inform. They received calls. If those 200 people hadn't received calls, 80 votes would have been lost." This implies that Lee Jong-won encouraged dialing numbers he instructed, and he confirmed over 200 respondents who contacted him.

Lee Jong-won expressed strong confidence in achieving over a 10% lead in the national public opinion poll and instructed the strategic use of the first-come, first-served response method. The participant quoted Lee Jong-won's remark, "I am sure we will win by at least 10% in the national public opinion poll. In the national public opinion poll, the person who gets in first and votes is the winner." This suggests an intention to achieve favorable results by exploiting the first-come, first-served nature of national public opinion polls.

The fact that Lee Jong-won received over 200 direct contacts suggests that organized public opinion distortion occurred. The participant stated, "He said he received over 200 contacts himself. So, he is admitting that there would be quite a number of votes that supported candidate Jung Chung-rae in the public opinion poll by disguising their region, gender, and age due to my broadcast, even without contacting him." This shows that if uncontacted cases are included, a much larger number likely disguised their region, gender, and age to support a specific candidate, and it has been categorized as a more serious crime than the previous case where 190 text messages led to an arrest.

New탐사 analyzed the possibility that manipulated public opinion poll results had a significant impact, enough to change the Supreme Council member rankings. The competition for the lowest vote ranking within party members with voting rights was fierce, with a mere 0.6%p gap between candidates Han Min-soo and Kim Yong. The participant explained, "It had enough impact to change the Supreme Council member rankings. The difference in party member votes was only about 2,000 votes. But he claims he can create 16,000 votes," pointing out that the votes Lee Jong-won claimed he could create were enough to critically influence the Supreme Council member rankings.

An analysis found that the 0.6%p difference in public opinion poll vote share between candidates Han Min-soo and Kim Yong could actually change the election outcome. This 0.6%p was estimated to be worth approximately 12,000 votes when converted to public opinion poll vote share. New탐사 explained, "The vote share difference between Han Min-soo and Kim Yong was not 0.6% when converted to public opinion poll vote share. It was worth about 12,000 votes. Just this alone could change the rankings of Han Min-soo and Kim Yong." It emphasized that the 200 votes Lee Jong-won claimed to have secured account for about 5% of the total sample of 4,000, and even such a small-scale sample manipulation could sufficiently overturn the results.

New탐사 analyzed that Lee Jong-won's goal was not to change the party leader's ranking but to change the rankings of the five Supreme Council members to get three pro-establishment candidates elected. The participant said, "Lee Jung-eun's goal was actually to change the party leader's ranking, but while she couldn't change the party leader's ranking, she could change the rankings of the five Supreme Council members, resulting in the election of three pro-establishment candidates."

An analysis suggested that Lee Jong-won's public opinion poll manipulation could have a large-scale ripple effect. A New탐사 participant stated, "When I calculated this, multiplying 4 people by 80 votes, it became 320,000 votes. So, if 4 people can exercise 320,000 votes, it's a public opinion poll with much more power than delegates," claiming that there is a powerful public opinion poll manipulation team that can wield an enormous number of votes with a small number of people.

New탐사 analyzed that Lee Jong-won had a specific calculation method that could change the national convention election results. He focused on the fact that voter turnout in the Seoul metropolitan area is about 10% higher than in Honam, and used this to predict results. Specifically, he explained, "If Jung Chung-rae wins by 10% in the Seoul metropolitan area, Kim Min-seok wins by about 4%. In this case, if candidate Jung Chung-rae wins by 8 to 10% in the national public opinion poll, it's a reversal," presenting a scenario where a reversal is possible if Jung Chung-rae wins by an 8-10% difference in the national public opinion poll. This indicates that Lee Jong-won had already predicted that he could change the party leader's ranking.

Lee Jong-won emphasized the 'first-come, first-served' nature of the national public opinion election and encouraged active participation and mobilization from viewers. He said, "Why will the power emerge when no one pays attention to the national public opinion election, and why did I do my best at the last minute in the national public opinion poll, even though it was an election we were unlikely to win from the start? It's 4,000 votes. 4,000 votes. If the sample of 4,000 poll votes is filled, it's over. This is first-come, first-served," stressing the importance of quick responses. He also claimed through internal broadcasting that 200 participants could secure 16,000 votes, mobilizing viewers in an organized manner.

Allegations of manipulative forces' intervention were raised regarding the sudden surge in Representative Lee Sung-yoon's ranking. A New탐사 participant stated, "In particular, for Representative Lee Sung-yoon, a candidate who was almost always outside the top 5 or 6, to come in first made us suspect that manipulative forces had definitely intervened in the public opinion poll," emphasizing that it is a serious criminal act that harms the fairness of public opinion polls, regardless of the actual results. This further amplifies the suspicion that Lee Jong-won's instructions actually influenced the public opinion polls.