Police raided Daegu City Hall in the southeastern city Friday over alleged election law violations involving Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, about a week after the two sides clashed over an LGBT festival.
Hong cried foul and denounced the police as "gangsters," claiming they were taking revenge on the city government after last week's clash between 500 city officials and some 1,500 police personnel over whether the queer festival could be held on a public road in the city, 237 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
During the raid, about 10 investigators from the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency searched the city hall's "new media office" in charge of the city's YouTube channel at 9 a.m. for four hours and seized boxes of evidence.
Officials said the raid was conducted in connection with an election law violation case involving Hong, but the mayor was not subject to the search. They did not elaborate.
In February, a civic group in Daegu filed a complaint against Hong and a city official in charge of the city's YouTube channel, alleging the channel was being used as a publicity tool for the mayor in violation of the Public Official Election Act.
The police received a search warrant from the court a week ago and carried it out Friday.
The raid came nearly a week after Saturday's clash in which city officials tried to block the main venue of the queer festival, claiming the event organizers were trying to illegally occupy the road, while police prevented city officials from doing so, saying the event was officially sanctioned.
"After forcefully suppressing the legitimate execution by the official duties of Daegu city officials, they are now even conducting a revenge investigation," Hong said in a Facebook post. "If investigative power is exercised this way, they are not police but gangsters."
Later in the day, Hong declared the city hall off-limits to Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency officials.
"I don't think this case has anything to do with the queer festival," said Jeong Jang-su, a senior Daegu city official, adding that police power should be used in a way that does not cause misunderstanding.
The police rejected the claims, saying the warrant would have been executed regardless of the festival.
The work council of the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency also issued a statement denouncing Hong, saying the raid was carried out under a court-issued warrant and the mayor's claims of a "revenge investigation" would mean the court and the prosecution are working in tandem.
Source: Yonhap News Agency