Police have decided not to refer Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae to prosecutors over allegations that he falsely claimed to be a descendant of an independence fighter ahead of the June 3 local elections.
The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency recently closed the case against Park, who had been accused of spreading false information in violation of the Public Official Election Act, police said on the 23rd. Police concluded it was difficult to establish that Park had deliberately spread false information with the aim of winning the election.
Park had faced allegations that he spread false information by claiming to be a descendant of Lee Sang-ryong, an independence activist also known by his pen name Seokju, in the run-up to the local elections. Park Ki-hyun, a fifth-generation direct descendant of independence fighter Park Jin-hae, filed a criminal complaint with police on May 29, saying, "The candidate is related to Lee Sang-ryong by 22 degrees of kinship, and calling himself a descendant of an independence fighter could damage the honor of actual descendants."
Park's side has denied the allegations. It cited an interview with Lee Chang-soo, a direct great-great-grandson of Lee Sang-ryong, who said, "Park's maternal family helped us both financially and in spirit when we were going through our hardest times. Ours is not a relationship that can be explained by degrees of kinship, and I don't understand why this has become a subject of debate."