Special counsel says deceased election official's note cites no coercion

A National Election Commission (NEC) official, who was found dead a day after undergoing questioning by a special counsel, did not mention any coercive interrogation by special counsel investigators in a note that he left behind, the investigation team claimed on Friday.

The NEC official was found dead outside his apartment in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, on Wednesday morning. He left a note, in which he reportedly expressed grievances over the questioning that he faced the previous day.

The NEC official’s lawyer, who was present during the questioning, earlier claimed that investigators had pressured and coerced the deceased and that there had been procedural shortcomings in drawing up his interrogation records.

The investigation team, led by special counsel Lee Tae-han, said that it has checked the content of the deceased’s note through proper procedures and confirmed that it did not mention any coercion.

Instead, the deceased wrote that he did not hold a grudge against the special counsel and only pointed to organizational problems at the NEC, the team added.

The special counsel team launched on Sept. 7 to investigate multiple allegations of misconduct involving the NEC, including ballot shortages and suspected manipulation of voter turnout data during the local elections on June 3.

Yonhap