![Fact Check: 2020 Parliamentary Election In South Korea Was NOT Rigged](https://korean.leadstories.com/assets_c/2023/12/screenshot_3488911-thumb-352xauto-3127118.jpg)
Was the parliamentary election in South Korea in 2020 rigged? No, that's not true: The claim has already been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by @user7167805962216 on TikTok, on December 10, 2023. The video said (translated from Korean to English by Lead Stories staff):
Investigate the election fraud. Why there is still no investigation even though there is a bunch of evidence? Investigate it!
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Dec 12 01:18:41 2023 UTC)
This video is originally from the political YouTube channel leebongkyu TV (video link here, archived here). The video repeats a far-right disinformation theory that the 2020 general election was rigged by the liberal government. After the Democratic Party had won the election by a large margin, a few right-wing politicians and YouTubers started to spread the claim. The author of the YouTube video referred to an essay of Min Kyung-wook, a defeated conservative candidate for the Incheon Yeonsu Eul constituency, which was published by the far-right platform Knews.
Min started the trend of disinformation: He claimed electoral fraud, as he came first in the vote count on election day. As the count continued, however, he lost by a large margin and came second.
Min and his far-right supporters claimed for a long time that the election had been rigged and even filed an election lawsuit. Although the Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit in 2022, Min still claims there was electoral fraud. According to the National Election Commission, a total of 126 election complaints were filed, but 102 cases were dismissed in whole or in part, while 14 other cases were withdrawn by the plaintiffs.