`Police conducted secret probe into Ahn`s alleged affairs`

The online news service Newsis on Wednesday said police conducted a secret investigation into alleged extramarital affairs of potential presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, releasing a tape-recorded message by an official from audit and inspection authorities.

The official was confirmed to have worked as a high-ranking executive supporting police with information. According to the recorded message, he told a Newsis reporter on the phone that he tracked Ahn early last year.

"I don`t know for sure (about the hostess bar Ahn went to). I think the name of the bar was Rose. There were rumors that he frequented that place and had an affair with a woman. So we did track him once," the official said, adding, "We couldn`t identify the woman. There were rumors but we found nothing."

Before hanging up, he said, "The rumors spreading now are all like those. We tried to see the true situation but couldn`t. Due to fears of civilian surveillance, we did a little surveillance but stopped."

The official said he was trying to substantiate the rumors early last year while working as an information director at a regional police agency. Ahn was not a rising political star then.

In a phone interview with The Dong-A Ilbo on Wednesday, he said, "The (Newsis) reporter asked me about rumors surrounding Ahn, and I told him I`d heard of them but didn`t know if they were true. I`ve never identified nor tracked (Ahn`s privacy)."

"I don`t recall telling the reporter that I tracked the rumors, and even if I did, I made a slip of tongue while trying to quickly hang up the phone."

When speaking to the reporter last month, the official said he had been assigned to a position unrelated to information work.

neo@donga.com