Kim wants election inquiry

Press, 1 February 1988, Page 8

Kim wants election inquiry

NZPA-AFP Seoul The Opposition leader, Kim Dae Jung, released an investigative report on Saturday which he said backed up his claim that the ruling party candidate, Roh Tae Woo, won last month’s South Korean Presidential Election by massive fraud.

The report said Mr Roh had obtained at least four million votes by fraudulent means, including about three million that would have gone to Mr Kim. Official results said Mr Roh polled 8.28 million votes followed by the rival Opposition leader, Kim Young Sam, with 6.35 million votes and Kim Dae Jung with 6.11 million.

The “white paper” report by Kim Dae Jung’s Peace and Democracy Party said three out of four of the allegedly stolen votes were believed to have been Kim Dae Jung’s. Kim Dae Jung demanded that the National Assembly set up a commission of inquiry into the election, which would be composed of an equal number of delegates from the ruling and Opposition parties. The report, which cited 800 cases of electoral fraud, said Mr Roh’s ruling Democratic Justice Party (DJP) spent 5U55.25 billion on the election, way over the legal limit of SUSI 7 million.

In one vote-buying case in southern Namwon, the report said, the county chief was caught handing out sums ranging from $U512.50 to SUSI2S to encourage people to vote for Mr Roh.