2026.10.15. The Fair Economy — Police have launched a forced investigation into Cha Seok-ho, mayor of Haman County in South Gyeongsang Province, who is suspected of involvement in recruiting members for the People Power Party while serving as a civil servant.
The anti-corruption and economic crime investigation unit of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency raided the county chief's office and the People Power Party's Gyeongnam provincial party headquarters starting at 9 a.m. on the 15th.
Mayor Cha is suspected of having, around August last year while serving as deputy mayor of Jinju, arranged for dozens of Haman County residents to join the People Power Party by listing himself as their referrer, in violation of the Public Official Election Act and the Local Public Officials Act.
The Democratic Party of Korea's Gyeongnam provincial party filed a complaint with the police in May, saying that 121 residents, including those from Gaya-eup, Haman County, listed Cha as their recommender on party membership application forms.
The Democratic Party's South Gyeongsang branch filed the complaint against Mayor Cha in May, and police, after receiving it, booked Cha as a suspect and conducted an investigation before launching the raid on this day.
Mayor Cha's side has denied the allegations, saying the acts occurred after he submitted his resignation, that he was no longer a civil servant at the time, and that he never urged anyone to join the party or solicited membership applications.
A police official said, "Since this is a matter under investigation, we are unable to disclose specific details."
Based on materials secured through the raid, police plan to determine whether Mayor Cha was involved in encouraging party membership and recruiting members.
Ahead of the June 3 local elections, police have intensified investigations into violations of civil servants' political neutrality during the election process, recently carrying out a series of raids on the Andong City Office and officials in Okcheon County over allegations of civil servants recruiting party members.
In September, four Andong City officials in North Gyeongsang Province were raided on suspicion of recruiting party members to help Mayor Kwon Gi-chang win election, and in the same month, an Okcheon County official in North Chungcheong Province was also investigated on suspicion of collecting applications for a specific party during weekday working hours. North Chungcheong Governor Shin Yong-han also had his office raided over allegations that he sent text messages soliciting support using a borrowed phone during the local election process, as forced investigations into election law violations continue one after another.
Article 57-3 of the Public Official Election Act prohibits civil servants from using their position to urge constituents to join a political party or to become involved in recruiting party members; violations are punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 6 million won. Article 44 of the Local Public Officials Act also prohibits civil servants from engaging in political activity.
Mayor Cha was booked for violating both provisions. Cha's side argues that, under Article 53, Paragraph 4 of the Public Official Election Act, civil servant status is lost upon submission of a resignation, but the Democratic Party's South Gyeongsang branch has countered that civil servant status remains in effect until the resignation is finally accepted.
Citing his 33 years of public service career, Mayor Cha applied for the People Power Party's nomination but was cut in the first round of the South Gyeongsang branch's primary, briefly declaring he would not run. Afterward, preliminary candidates Lee Seong-yong and Lee Bo-myeong filed for an injunction with the court to suspend the effect of the primary, and when the court granted it, the nomination given to Cho Yeong-je, a South Gyeongsang provincial council member, was voided. After the nomination process was transferred to the party's central headquarters, candidate Cha became the final nominee through a strategic nomination.
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