Busan, South Korea — Jang Ye-chan, a former member of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and recent independent parliamentary candidate, underwent police questioning on Monday regarding allegations of illegal campaign funding through YouTube.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Jang is accused of using YouTube's Super Chat feature to receive money during live streams in August, which may violate South Korea's Political Funds Act. This act prohibits the receipt of political donations outside of officially registered campaign funds. The National Election Commission has raised concerns that earning money from YouTube could conflict with this law. Jang, who was initially a PPP candidate for Busan's Suyeong district before being dropped due to controversial comments, managed to secure only 9.18 percent of the vote in the last election.