Head of Gangnam district office to face trial for slandering Moon

Prosecutors said Wednesday it indicted the head of Seoul's Gangnam District Office without detention on charges of slandering President Moon Jae-in when he was a presidential candidate earlier this year.

Shin Yeon-hee, a member of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, is accused of illegal electioneering and defaming Moon by spreading false information about him via mobile messenger Kakao Talk on more than 200 occasions from December last year to March, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. 

The file photo captures Shin Yeon-hee, the head of the Gangnam District Office, entering the prosecutors` office to face questioning upon a summons on June 21, 2017. (Yonhap)

Among the messages she sent to her acquaintances include ones that accuse Moon of being a communist, that he tried to launder his 1 trillion-won slush fund and that his father is from the Workers' Party of Korea in North Korea.

The National Election Commission and Moon's campaign team filed a complaint with the police in March seeking an investigation into the allegations. Police later referred the case to the prosecution.

She has denied any wrongdoing, saying that she shared the messages with people who had similar views and the time when the messages were sent didn't coincide with the official campaign period. (Yonhap)