Druking's opinion rigging ultimately designed to sway 2017 presidential vote: special counsel

The suspected massive opinion rigging led by a political blogger was ultimately aimed at influencing public sentiment in favor of the now-ruling Democratic Party in the run-up to last year's presidential election, special prosecutors said Monday.

27일 드루킹 댓글 조작 의혹 사건에 대한 최종 수사 결과가 발표됐다. Source: Getty

Special counsel Huh Ik-bum announced the result of the 60-day investigation into the alleged manipulation of online comments by the blogger Kim Dong-won, known as Druking, and his crew, which also implicated South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo as a possible co-conspirator.

The team of 87 investigators was launched on June 27 upon the National Assembly's passage of a bill on the independent probe. Suspicions have centered on Druking and Gov. Kim, then a ruling DP lawmaker, for allegedly working together to jack up "like" clicks for comments on Internet news articles to benefit the DP beginning in November 2016 and in the lead-up to the 2017 presidential election.

Full analysis on the implication of the special counsel's final report on the alleged online opinion rigging is available on audio news.