Jinan County Gift Certificate Irregularities: Investigation Team Leader Under Suspicion

"There are gift certificates issued by Jinan County. However, leading up to the election, during these three months – February, March, April – as soon as these gift certificates were issued, some big buyer, we don't know who, swept up all the issued gift certificates in just about three days." Signs of an abnormally high circulation of gift certificates in markets and other places after this mass depletion were also detected, raising suspicions of illegal distribution.

However, in March, April, and May of this year, an unusual phenomenon recurred where all gift certificates were sold out within two to three days of issuance. "Jinan County issues gift certificates worth around 1.5 billion won per month. But coincidentally, and strangely, in March, April, and May, the gift certificates ran out within two or three days of being issued." This phenomenon was observed consistently across all nine sales outlets in the county, raising the possibility that a specific group systematically bought up the gift certificates.

345 local residents submitted a petition along with a complaint about the gift certificates to the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency. They worried that assigning the case to the Jinan Police Station could compromise the fairness of the investigation, so they even attached a warning to the complaint, asking to prevent its transfer to Jinan. "They collected 345 petitions and attached them to the gift certificate complaint, explicitly stating that it should absolutely not be sent down to Jinan, even including a warning. They attached the 345 petitions to the front and back of the complaint and submitted it to the police agency. Guess what? Was it sent down? Or not? It was sent down again." However, despite these efforts, the case was ultimately transferred down to the Jinan Police Station.

"When I interviewed last Saturday, the prosecution was directly investigating the gift certificate case, but they transferred it back to the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency. Because of the new agency being established, the prosecution effectively has no capacity to investigate all new cases." The Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency is reportedly considering whether to reassign this case.

As a result, even if the police conceal a case, there is no alternative, leaving no choice but to entrust the case to the police. "Now there is no choice. If the police continue to suppress cases like that, we have no choice but to hand them over to the police."

The host stated, "Anyway, this case is in Jeonbuk, and the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency is still holding onto it and seems to be treading carefully." He pointed out that the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency appears to be hesitant and not processing the case promptly.

The host said, "There's one more reason why they don't trust the Jinan Police Station. Jeong Yong-hee, the investigation team leader at Jinan Police Station, his sister is rumored to be Mayor Jeon Choon-sung's closest associate." This suggests that such a family relationship could influence the investigation of election-related complaints and accusations.

At the time, rumors circulated internally that there was a different candidate originally designated for the position, raising questions about the sudden appointment of Team Leader Jeong, a former forensics expert, as the investigation team leader. "Investigation Team Leader Jeong Yong-hee was appointed as the investigation team leader here in January of 2026. According to rumors, there was an internally designated candidate for an investigation team leader who could conduct investigations there."

Jeong, the sister of Investigation Team Leader Jeong Yong-hee, served as the audit team leader and head of the Culture and Tourism Department at the Jinan County Office. Notably, after Team Leader Jeong was appointed as investigation team leader in January, his sister was promoted to deputy town mayor of Bugimyeon during personnel changes in June, right after the election, thus rapidly advancing through key positions. "His sister was the audit team leader at Jinan County Office, then the head of the Culture and Tourism Department, and this time, after her brother Jeong Yong-hee arrived in January." This coincidence of the brother's appointment and the sister's promotion fuels suspicions related to personnel matters.

This change in investigation team leader occurred while an investigation into the manipulation of opinion polls was underway. The host commented, "From the perspective of Mayor Jeon Choon-sung, of course, we don't have evidence yet, but he might have wanted the most trustworthy person to handle this case." This raises the possibility that Mayor Jeon Choon-sung intended to entrust the case to the most reliable individual. This leads to the suspicion that the investigation team leader's personnel placement was not a mere coincidence but had an ulterior motive to influence the case's handling.