Police chief vows thorough investigation of opinion rigging scandal SEOUL , May 21 ( Yonhap ) -- The police will continue to thoroughly investigate the opinion rigging scandal involving a former ruling party lawmaker , the country ' s police chief said Monday , hours after the parliament decided to appoint an independent counsel to look into the scandal . " The police are somewhat ashamed in that the investigation should have been ended by the police but will now lead to the appointment of a special counsel . We will continue on with the investigation until the launch of the special counsel , " National Police Agency Commissioner Lee Cheol - seong said in a meeting with reporters . The remarks came shortly after the National Assembly passed a proposal to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the opinion rigging scandal that the main opposition Liberty Korea Party claims may have led to the election of President Moon Jae - in . A local blogger , known by his nickname Druking , is suspected of manipulating comments on Internet news stories in an effort to sway public opinion in favor of the ruling Democratic Party and President Moon . The suspect , currently in custody , claims to have developed and launched the opinion rigging program under the tacit consent of former ruling party lawmaker Kim Kyoung - soo , who stepped down last week to run for governor of South Gyeongsang Province in the June 13 local elections . Kim has strongly denied the allegation , only admitting to having met Druking on several occasions . Recent reports have also revealed that Druking had met another confidant of President Moon , Song In - bae . Song has admitted to meeting Druking at least four times but denies any prior knowledge of the opinion rigging scandal . The national police chief said he or police investigators had simply been unaware of the meetings between Song and Druking , dismissing the possibility of the police intentionally leaving out ruling party or government officials from its investigation . ( END )