SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- Two former government officials, including a former employee of the national election watchdog, were indicted Thursday on charges of spreading false information that the 2012 presidential election was rigged, prosecutors said.
In a publication, the suspects allegedly claimed that the National Election Commission (NEC) had systemically rigged the presidential election by deliberately concealing a malfunction in the electronic ballot machines and that as a result a "fake president" was elected, prosecutors said.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office probing the case alleged that the two, including former NEC employee Han Young-soo, defamed other NEC employees by spreading such fabricated facts.
"The nature of suspects' crime is very corrupt, as they maliciously distorted the work of NEC employees and misled the facts," said a prosecutors probing the case.
The 296-page publication, issued right after the Dec. 19 vote, sold nearly 10,000 copies in bookstores and another 2,500 copies were distributed, prosecutors said.
"There is a high possibility that the publication may bring about social chaos, as it even makes a reference to toppling the current administration," the prosecutor said.
The prosecution office said it has also charged a 32-year-old civilian, surnamed Choi, for allegedly acting in a disorderly manner at a court hearing of the two suspects.
President Park Geun-hye, the then ruling party candidate, eventually won the election against opposition candidate Moon Jae-in by a margin of 1 million votes.
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