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South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo closes his eyes before talking to reporters on Wednesday after the Supreme Court found him guilty of conspiring with a blogger to manipulate public opinion online to help South Korean President Moon Jae-in win the 2017 election. (Yonhap News)

The Supreme Court has upheld South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo’s prison sentence on opinion rigging changes.

Kim was accused of conspiring with blogger Kim Dong-won — known by his online name “Druking” — and others to rig the ranking of replies on internet articles ahead of the 2017 presidential election. Kim Kyoung-soo has been stripped of his governorship and is scheduled to return to prison shortly.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court’s second division under Justice Lee Dong-won upheld a court ruling sentencing Kim Kyoung-soo to two years in prison on charges of “obstruction of duties through computer impairment.”

Kim was indicted on charges of conspiring with Kim Dong-won and others to use the macro program “King Crab” to rig the ranking of replies in support of then-candidate Moon Jae-in’s election campaign beginning in November 2016, and of violating the Public Official Election Act by proposing a general consul position in Sendai, Japan, for one of Kim’s associates after agreeing to rig replies for the subsequent local elections in 2017.

In his first trial, Kim Kyoung-soo was taken into court custody after being sentenced to two years in prison for the reply manipulations and 10 months suspended for two years for the Public Official Election Act violation.

In his second trial, he was only convicted on the reply manipulation charges and given a two-year suspended sentence. He was freed on bail and not taken into court custody.

Now that his guilty verdict for involvement in the Druking manipulations has been upheld, Kim must complete the remaining 21 months of his sentence, not including the 77 days he spent detained at the time of his first trial.

Once he completes his sentence, he will be barred from elected offices for five years. In other words, his political career will be on hold until April 2028 at the earliest.

While his exit from the political scene is unlikely to have much impact on a competition for the Democratic Party presidential nomination that is already well underway, it does leave a blot on the legitimacy of the Moon presidency that emerged out of the “candlelight revolution.”

Kim was referred to as the “last [Blue House] secretary” for the way he stuck with Roh Moo-hyun in the village of Bongha, South Gyeongsang Province, right up until the former President’s suicide.

On the day of Roh’s death, Kim phoned Moon — who was then working as an attorney — early in the morning to give him the news. He was also the first to discover the note that Roh had left behind on his home computer.

South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo leaves his residence in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

When Moon found himself called on to join the political world after Roh’s death, Kim served as a close aide supporting his presidential runs. After Moon’s administration was launched, he was a factor of major influence, acting as a right-hand man coordinating relations between the Democratic Party and Blue House.

With his election as South Gyeongsang Governor in the 2018 local elections, Kim seemed to be making headway as a potential presidential contender carrying on Moon’s legacy. But he ended up not being able to compete in the race for the Democratic Party nomination.

The reason that he gave publicly was that he was working on “upgrading the balanced national development set in motion by former President Roh Moo-hyun through the realization of a Busan/Ulsan/Gyeongsang megacity.” But analysts said the Druking situation also played a part.

Rather than running for the presidency, Kim had been planning to bid for re-election as South Gyeongsang Governor in next year’s local election. The latest ruling puts paid to that plan — and to any hope of a run in the 2027 presidential election.

Beyond any questions of his own political future, Kim was a close associate of Moon Jae-in who played a pivotal role in his 2017 presidential election win. With his guilty verdict now ultimately upheld, his involvement in manipulating public opinion also stands to impact the legitimacy and ethical image of the Moon administration itself.

Numerous opposition politicians who ran in the election issued messages Wednesday describing themselves as “victims” and demanding an apology from Moon.

In a Facebook message, People Power Party lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo wrote, “Since Kim Kyoung-soo was chief secretary to then-candidate Moon Jae-in at the time of the election, we will need to identify any accomplices up the line from him.”

“I feel like [fellow candidate] Ahn Cheol-soo and I are owed an apology by President Moon,” he said.

Ahn, the current People’s Party leader, insisted that Moon should “apologize to the public of the Republic of Korea.”

Former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min also demanded an apology from Moon, saying that he had “serious questions about the legitimacy of the Moon Jae-in administration.”

The Democratic Party dismissed the opposition’s claims about “legitimacy.”

“As a candidate, Moon Jae-in won an overwhelming victory with more than 17 percentage points over second-place candidate Hong Joon-pyo,” said spokesperson Lee So-young.

“It’s unreasonable and farfetched to claim that the last election was ‘an illegitimate election’ and question the administration’s ‘legitimacy’ based on Gov. Kim’s sentencing results, when they know full well what the outcome of that election was,” she said.

The Democratic Party’s current presidential contenders called the situation “unfortunate.”

In a Facebook message, Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung wrote, “As fellow party members, [Kim and I] wrestled together with various matters. It’s very dismaying.”

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yon said, “The Supreme Court’s ruling was very disappointing. I trust in Gov. Kim’s sincerity.”

Former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said he was “truly dismayed by the guilty ruling,” while lawmaker Kim Du-kwan called the situation “deplorable.”

Shortly after the ruling was announced, the Democratic Party issued a brief comment.

“[The ruling] is very disappointing. We respect the Supreme Court’s verdict, and will do our best to minimize any vacuums or impediments to South Gyeongsang Province’s administration,” it said. In general, the mood was one of acceptance of the Supreme Court’s decision after hopes for a last-minute reversal of fortune failed to pan out.

Kim’s absence does not appear likely to have too large an impact on the Democratic Party’s presidential election schedule. The party’s leading positional candidates have already joined their race.

But it remains to be seen whether the conviction of a key pro-Moon figure might lose the party supporters or rally them behind a particular candidate.

“The ruling itself isn’t going to be an impediment to the nominee selection process,” a Democratic Party official predicted.

“But there could be some impact in terms of votes changing among supporters who are heartbroken and indignant over the trial result,” they suggested.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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