South Korea is pursuing the arrest of two individuals allegedly involved in aiding a YouTuber to install numerous spy cameras at voting locations.
Authorities suspect these individuals collaborated with the social media influencer, who aimed to validate his baseless claims of election fraud.
The influencer, aged in his 40s, was apprehended late last week.
The early voting phase for South Korea’s parliamentary elections is scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Police in Incheon, a western city, disclosed that illicit cameras were discovered at around 40 sites nationwide, including polling stations and vote counting centers.
Many of these devices were camouflaged as telecommunications equipment, as per Singapore’s Straits Times.
The head of the National Office of Investigation announced on Monday that a hunt was on for two men, one in his 50s and the other in his 70s.
According to a South Korean news agency, charges against them include unlawful entry into properties and breaches of security laws.
The influencer is purported to espouse far-right political views and has previously voiced concerns about potential election tampering in current and previous elections on his YouTube channel.
Upon interrogation by the media subsequent to his arrest, the individual stated he had “wanted to check the number of early voters,” as reported by the Straits Times.
He also expressed suspicion about “significant disparities between the outcomes of early voting and the main voting.”
The publication highlighted his involvement in installing cameras at early voting stations in Seoul, the capital, during a by-election last year.
Authorities are actively searching for additional concealed cameras and have pledged to conduct further inspections ahead of the vote.
The media noted that more than 3,500 polling stations will be operational for early voting, quadrupling on April 10, the day of the election.
The election aims to elect members of the 300-seat National Assembly.
The previous parliamentary election occurred in 2020, amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
