[Newsmaker] Police raid blogger's office in opinion rigging probe

The police raided a power blogger’s office Sunday as part of a probe into allegations that he and his colleagues illegally manipulated the popularity of certain online comments to attack the current government.

The blogger, surnamed Kim, was indicted last week for allegedly using a computer program that artificially ramps up the number of clicks on “agree” -- the South Korean search engine Naver’s equivalent of Facebook’s “like” -- for comments that were critical of President Moon Jae-in and his administration in January.

Authorities believe that Kim, who is better known by his nickname “Druking,” set up a paper company in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and used the property for his allegedly illegal online activities. The company has not published any books since it was registered as a publishing firm some eight years ago. Police also believe that the blogger along with 20 or 30 of his followers met regularly at the office, each with their own electronic device needed for online manipulation. 

Meanwhile, the blogger also tried to approach supporters of ex-President Park Geun-hye in 2012, when she was the conservative presidential candidate, according to an exclusive report by a local daily.

The latest revelation -- which alleges Druking tried to approach supporters of ex-President Park, who was a member of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party in 2012 -- adds another layer to the ongoing scandal.

The blogger, once a public supporter of President Moon Jae-in. He openly endorsed Moon during the presidential campaign last year, by running YouTube channels and producing pro-Moon podcasts. He reportedly turned against the current Moon administration after the Presidential Office refused his personnel appointment requests.

The Liberty Korea Party has been fiercely demanding a special probe into whether the blogger and his online activities had been involved with the ruling Democratic Party during Moon‘s presidential election campaign last year, especially after it was revealed that Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo, a close aide to Moon, was shown to have been in touch with the blogger for years.

They also claim that the Seoul police agency deliberately conducted a lax probe because it involves the President and his close associate, Kim Kyoung-soo.

However, the main opposition party also almost became the blogger’s political target in 2012, according to the latest media report. According to the report, Druking allegedly approached one of the biggest Park supporter groups in 2012 in hopes of connecting with Park -- who was the favorite to win the election -- and obtaining “political rewards” from her. She ran against the current President Moon for presidency that year and won.

Quoting an ex-member of an offline organization run by Druking, the report claimed that the blogger wrote a 15-page letter and sent it to Chung Gwang-yong, who was the head of “Parksamo,” one of the major groups loyal to Park at the time. The letter reportedly contained Druking’s own analysis of Park’s future according to her “saju,” or the “four pillars of destiny,” that claims to foretell one’s life.
 

Druking asked an ex-member of the organization to deliver that letter to Chung. When handing over the letter, the ex-member said Druking was convinced that Park was going to win the presidential election that year, according to his analysis of Park’s “saju.” The blogger also allegedly told the ex-member: “Once we are connected with Park (and get her to trust us), I’m sure we’ll get some ‘rewards.’”

The ex-member did eventually deliver the letter to Chung, the head of “Parksamo,” but it never reached Park, the member said. Chung reportedly disregarded the letter, dismissing the saju analysis as groundless and absurd.

Chung was indicted last year for allegedly organizing a violent attack against civilians and police officers during his group’s protest against Park’s impeachment in March last year. At least 30 citizens and 15 police officers were injured after being allegedly attacked by the members of “Parksamo” that month.

The ex-member said although Druking’s highly popular current affairs blog was mostly followed by those who support liberal politics, political ideology in fact did not matter much to him, and that he would’ve supported the main opposition Liberty Korea Party had it given him more political opportunities for his own fame and success.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party in fact compared the ongoing scandal -- especially Druking’s alleged link with Moon’s close associate Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo -- with the corruption scandal involving ex-President Park and her aide Choi Soon-sil, which led to Park’s impeachment.

Despite the ongoing scandal that has hit the Moon administration hard, Rep. Kim announced last week that he was going ahead with his bid for Gyeongsang governor in the June 13 election and that he will comply with an independent counsel probe should it become necessary.

The lawmaker has admitted that Druking approached him back in 2016 and asked him for job favors, but denied any other involvement in the blogger’s alleged opinion manipulation in cyberspace.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)