YouTuber accused of placing spy cameras at voting sites says he wanted to count voters

A YouTuber accused of installing spy cameras at early voting sites nationwide claimed he did so to monitor voter numbers as he appeared for an arrest warrant hearing on Sunday.

A YouTuber accused of installing spy cameras at early voting sites ahead of the April 10 general election heads to the Incheon District Court to attend his arrest warrant hearing on Sunday. [NEWS1]

A YouTuber accused of installing spy cameras at early voting sites nationwide claimed he did so to monitor voter numbers as he appeared for an arrest warrant hearing on Sunday.

Police sought an arrest warrant for the YouTuber, a man in his 40s, for trespassing and violating the Protection of Communications Secrets Act the day before. The suspect is accused of placing hidden cameras at some 40 early voting sites, including in Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Ulsan, Daegu and Gyeonggi, ahead of the April 10 general election.

Early voting for the upcoming general election will take place on April 5 and 6.

“I wanted to check the number of early voters,” the man told reporters as he appeared for a hearing at Incheon District Court, adding that the significant difference between early voting and actual voting was suspicious.

Early voting was first implemented in the April 2013 by-election to raise the participation rate. However, candidate supporters have repeatedly raised claims of electoral fraud during such voting over the past decade.

A camera that looks like a charging adapter placed at an early voting site in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang, in a photo shared by the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency. [GYEONGNAM PROVINCIAL POLICE AGENCY]

Following reports of cameras installed at early voting stations in Incheon and Yangsan last week, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety inspected voting sites nationwide on Thursday. As of 6 p.m. Friday, it discovered cameras hidden at 26 early voting sites, all of which were among the 40 spots the YouTuber is accused of placing them.

The voting sites where the ministry found hidden cameras also included places used as early voting sites in previous elections.

According to the police, the YouTuber allegedly disguised the cameras, mostly resembling charging adapters, by attaching stickers of telecommunication company KT. They were hidden in spots such as water dispensers to film inside the voting centers.

The suspect is also accused of installing spy cameras and filming the voting site for the by-election of Seoul’s Gangseo District last year.

In a YouTube clip posted on his channel last October, the man shared a video of the voting sites, claiming that the number of early voters he filmed differed by over 200 from the figure disclosed by the National Election Commission.

“I underwent hardcore training on Mount Jiri for four years since the 2020 general election to film the early voting site,” he said in the video. "After countless studies and training, I finally figured out a way to film the voting site without the election commission’s interference.”

He claimed he also filmed an early voting site for the presidential election in 2022.

A person points behind a water dispenser at an early voting site for the April 10 general election in Namdong District, Incheon, to explain where a spy camera was hidden. [NEWS1]

On Sunday, the police said they are also investigating a man in his 70s, known to be a subscriber of the YouTuber, for possible collusion in installing spy cameras at voting sites in Yangsan. The YouTuber denied colluding with the man as he entered the district court for a hearing on the same day.

Starting this year, election commissions of every city and province can check the ballot box 24 hours a day through surveillance cameras. Access to the footage was only granted after a separate request previously. To reduce suspicions of vote rigging, the National Election Commission said it will also implement hand counting for the first time in 30 years.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]