UNDP Confirms Roh`s Identity Was Stolen

Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said at a briefing on Monday regarding the revelation that president’s name appeared on the list of Electoral College voters for the United New Democratic Party’s primary election, “The president didn’t register his name as a member of the Electoral College, nor did his aides. The UNDP is investigating how his name appeared on the list.”

“We found out that someone enrolled Roh’s name in Jongno-gu, Seoul through the Internet on August 23,” said Lee Ki-woo, a spokesman for the UNDP`s presidential primary committee. He added that tracking down the enroller’s IP address would reveal where the enroller’s computer was located and his or her identity.

Admitting that there was a mistake in managing the president’s personal information, Lee said, “It’s regrettable that somebody stole the president’s identity. We will request law enforcement agencies to investigate, if necessary.”

Up until August 24, anybody could sign up for the Electoral College on behalf of others if the proxy had names and residential registration numbers ready to type into the program. The UNDP began Electoral College enrollment on August 21 and adopted a verification system on August 25 in order to confirm enrollers’ identities after fake voter scandals occurred.

Suspicions were raised that an official of Cheong Wa Dae or the UNDP took Roh’s identity and signed up for him.

When a controversy over “ghost voters” arose at the preliminary primary election, the liberal party pledged that it would verify the identity of all voters at least several times. However, this incident invited criticism from both outside and inside the party that it was having trouble managing elections.

“If president Roh’s name was enrolled by the proxy without Roh’s knowledge as Cheong Wa Dae argued, it reaffirms that the liberal party’s primaries were conducted by mobilized voters and ghost Electoral College voters, which is a sham,” said Na Gyeong-won, spokesman of the Grand National Party.

Woo Sang-ho, spokesman for former Gyeonggi governor Sohn Hak-gyu, asked for a thorough investigation into the matter at a briefing, saying, “We cannot help but ask who stole the president’s identity, and what the intent of his registration was.”

cij1999@donga.com