An official under the senior secretary for civil and social agenda in the Office of the President asked a People Power Party (PPP) member to share and spread content supporting Kim Gi-hyeon, a candidate for PPP leader, in KakaoTalk group chatrooms. The latest news of a presidential staff engaging in activities that directly support a particular candidate is expected to trigger a heated debate over any irregularities concerning the Office of the President’s alleged intervention in the party convention.

According to a recording obtained by the Kyunghyang Shinmun on March 5, early this year A, an administrative official in the Office of the Senior Secretary for Civil and Social Agenda in the presidential office, told B, a PPP member, that since they didn’t have a lot of time until the party convention, he would like B to share messages supporting Kim Gi-hyeon. He said, “There’s this room--something like--leader Kim Gi-hyeon. If some message comes up in that room, we’d like you to take a look at it. And if you have (chat) rooms where you can spread it, we’d like you to spread it.” A asked B if he could invite him to a chatroom and explained, “The name of the room is Kimi Igim,” which means “Kim is going to win.”

A suggested that whenever a message came up in that chatroom, B could share it. When B asked if all he had to do was share the messages with the people in his area, A said, “Yes.”

After A’s offer, B joined the chatroom in question, but left some time later. B told the reporter over the phone that several people including a politician who stated a certain region in his profile were in the chatroom he joined. He said, “I decided to disclose the matter, because I could not stand them feigning to do one thing while engaging in something else behind our backs regardless of whether or not they supported the party.”

According to the State Public Officials Act, public officials have an obligation to remain politically neutral and cannot join or be involved in the founding of a political party or political group.

A did not answer the reporter’s call Sunday. There was also no answer when the reporter sent a text message asking, “Did you invite a certain person to a chatroom where participants post messages promoting the candidate Kim Gi-hyeon, and ask him to share the messages in other places?”

A was recently mentioned in the controversy over the Office of the President’s involvement in the party convention along with C, another administrative official under the senior secretary for civil and social agenda and D, a senior administrative official. The controversy was triggered after it was revealed that some people whom A had invited to some chatrooms wrote messages supporting Kim and slandering Ahn Cheol-soo.

So far, the Kyunghyang Shinmun has confirmed two chatrooms in which A was a participant. One was created last October, and the other in January this year when a civic activist of a particular region and People Power Party members visited the Office of the President. Ahn Cheol-soo’s camp, which looked into the allegation in connection with the Kyunghyang Shinmun coverage, referred to the two chatrooms as the “Mapo Presidential Office Visit Chatroom” and the “Samgakji (Yongsan) Group Chatroom.”

In the Samgakji chatroom, C invited E and F. In the Mapo chatroom, So Young-chul, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council who represents Mapo-gu, invited E, and C invited F. E and F posted news posters with the words, “The concert party is supporting Ahn Cheol-soo this time,” and “Ahn Cheol-soo, conceding everything, whether it be the mayor or president, to the Democratic Party, while persistently taking everything including interest from the People Power,” in the two chatrooms. In addition, they frequently posted messages supporting Kim Gi-hyeon, such as “Kim Gi-hyeon is a warrior who can take on the Democratic Party,” and “Kim Gi-hyeon, a dedicated leader who sacrificed for the success of the People Power Party.”

News that A asked B to share messages promoting Kim Gi-hyeon are likely to lead to new developments in the allegation of the Office of the President interfering with the party convention. Ahn’s camp held a press conference Sunday and said, “It is a serious illegal activity that cannot be tolerated.” However, the criticism was limited to officials in the Office of the President including A inviting E and F to the chatrooms.