Min Kyungwook, who has been participating in a “stop-the-steal”-style campaign to root out alleged election fraud since he lost his parliamentary seat in South Korea’s 2020 election, feels he has a champion and role model in Donald Trump.
Since President Yoon Suk Yeol’s issued the martial law declaration on December 3 that led to his impeachment, a once-sidelined question has resurfaced at the forefront of national debate: At the heart of Yoon’s controversial decision was a pledge to investigate election fraud claims – allegations of irregularities that, according to the president’s supporters, have long tilted the political scales against the conservative camp.
Many conservative South Koreans including Min have doubled down on those charges. In the process they have identified with Trump’s MAGA movement, whose focus following Trump’s own loss in the 2020 US election was to try to discredit the election process in multiple US states – without managing to produce significant evidence of serious irregularities.
“Considering that the root cause of our present turmoil is election fraud that similarly affected President Trump,” says Min (whose current title is standing representative of the National Struggle Headquarters for the April 15th Fraudulent Election), “it would be immensely beneficial for conservatives here if the Trump administration were to expedite the investigation into US electoral fraud, hold those responsible accountable and reform the system accordingly.”
On the night of the South Korean president’s martial law decree, around 300 troops were dispatched to the National Election Commission (NEC) building to secure its computerized server – evidence that proponents see as a smoking gun.
While many South Koreans have viewed and still view such claims as largely baseless conspiracy theories, public sentiment appears to be shifting. One recent poll shows 54.5% of respondents demanding a formal probe into the NEC and its handling of past elections, as the institution faces mounting criticism for operating a “family-like business” (read nepotism) for years with minimal oversight.
Fueling this momentum is an exposé documentary on South Korea’s electoral irregularities, which aired on March 2 and has drawn over 1.2 million views.
Former National Assembly Representative Min, 61, who was a TV prime time news anchor before he went into politics, weighed in on the controversy in an interview he gave Asia Times after his return from attending the February Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland. There he had briefed assembled American right-wingers on South Korea’s turbulent political situation.
When did you begin scrutinizing election fraud claims?
Electoral fraud in South Korea first gained widespread attention during the general election held on April 15, 2020. I was a candidate in the Yeonsu-gu district of Incheon, where I finished in second place. There were three main candidates, and the margin between me and the winner was just 2,893 votes.
Running in a district that had long been a conservative stronghold, I was the only conservative candidate seeking re-election. Meanwhile, two liberal candidates were splitting the vote. Despite this, I lost. The outcome didn’t add up, so I began investigating the matter, and soon realized that results defied statistical logic. Conservative candidates in other districts were facing similar anomalies, and so the battle over electoral fraud officially commenced.
How did they defy statistical norm?
There are many examples, but I’ll highlight the most obvious one: a massive disparity between Election Day voting and early voting. In the 2020 general election, Liberal-leaning Democratic Party candidates received far more votes in early voting than on Election Day across all 253 districts nationwide, while right-leaning Unified Future Party candidates saw the exact opposite trend.
Specifically, early voting results showed that liberal candidates enjoyed an average margin of +12.5%, while conservative candidates recorded -12.5%. This 25 percentage-point differential indicates that liberal candidates received 25% more early votes—a statistical anomaly that defies conventional probabilistic expectations.
In a May 2020 interview with Chosun Ilbo, Professor Emeritus Park Sung-hyun, who has devoted his life to statistical research at Seoul National University, stated that these results cannot be explained without “divine intervention” or “fraud.”
Early voters may have a different political leaning than Election Day voters.
In statistics, there is a concept called the law of large numbers. It is a mathematical principle that states the average of results obtained from a large number of independent random samples will converge to the true value. In other words, under normal circumstances, the ratio of early voting results should be similar to Election Day voting results and the overall voting ratio in a particular district.
For instance, if the total voting ratio of two candidates A and B in a district is 6:4, it’s normal to see a similar 6:4 ratio in their early voting and the Election Day voting. But in my district and others, the liberal Democratic candidates had an unusually high percentage in early voting.
In statistical terms, this situation constitutes a clear anomaly. Despite the numbers blatantly defying established statistical principles, South Korean media quickly branded me and others who questioned the election results as conspiracy theorists, effectively stifling our voices.
South Korea’s National Election Commission has, on several occasions, acknowledged flaws in past elections. Today, more than half of the public is calling for a thorough investigation and audit of the Commission for potential irregularities. At the very least, an objective and transparent inquiry is needed.
What is the most effective method for verifying election fraud?
A thorough investigation by the prosecutors must be conducted, the Election Commission’s servers must be verified, the recount requested in 126 election invalidation lawsuits from the 2020 general election must be reopened and the investigation into over 20 complaints and lawsuits of election fraud filed in the 2024 general election must commence. Once President Yoon is back in office, the groundwork for launching these investigations will be in place.
How do you respond to criticisms that you’re citing election fraud to contest your loss?
Before entering politics, I spent over 20 years as a journalist at South Korea’s national broadcaster KBS. My drive to fight election fraud was not rooted in personal grievances, but in my commitment to thoroughly investigate my suspicions and present the findings to the public.
Some argue that electoral fraud is inconceivable in today’s world, but they are gravely mistaken. Even in the United States, with one of the most mature democratic systems, there have been serious allegations of stolen elections and foreign interference – an issue that President Trump is now vigorously confronting.
Could you share your experience at CPAC 2025?
Given the rapidly evolving political situation in South Korea following the December 3 martial law declaration, CPAC Korea focused heavily on this topic. Intellectuals well-versed in Northeast Asian affairs, including Gordon Chang, Fred Fleitz and Steve Yates, took part in an in-depth public debate on the issues of martial law and electoral fraud in South Korea.
The US panelists, in particular, demonstrated a deep understanding of why President Yoon had no choice but to impose martial law, emphasizing that this was not merely a political battle between left and right, but a critical struggle between those defending the liberal democratic order and those seeking to overthrow it.
I was invited to attend the official dinner after the event, where I had the opportunity to speak with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. There I asked him, “Do you think President Trump can help South Korea and President Yoon in the crisis they are facing?”
He replied, “Serious issues are going on in East Asia right now, and the US should be a strong supporter of South Korea.” When asked if the U.S. could assist South Korea with the election issue, Bannon responded, “President Trump is likely to take appropriate action.”
What lessons can Trump learn from the political turmoil in South Korea?
I understand there is a concerted effort among American leftists to depose President Trump. Yet, given the substantial authority vested in US presidents compared with leaders in my country, impeachment while in office is highly unlikely.
That said, Trump’s team must remain vigilant for democratic crises among its allies. While Washington is said to have spent approximately $500 trillion on the war in Ukraine, South Korea’s strategic, economic, political, and security importance far exceeds that of Ukraine.
Kenji Yoshida is a Seoul-based correspondent for JAPAN Forward.
