Prosecutors indicted without pretrial detention Lee Jin-seok, the presidential secretary for state affairs monitoring, on charges of meddling in the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Friday brought Lee to trial for violating the country's election law.

The latest indictment is the 14th in the prosecution's investigation into the case. Ulsan Mayor Song Chul-ho and former Vice Mayor Song Byung-gi were indicted in January 2020.

Lee is accused of delaying the outcome of a preliminary feasibility study on a hospital specializing in industrial accidents that was pledged by the then-incumbent Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon ahead of the 2018 race.

Current Mayor Song was found to have met with Lee and another presidential official in October 2017, when he was a candidate, to request the delay.

Lee is believed to have told the Finance Ministry to postpone the study outcome until May 2018. The ministry announced that the hospital did not make the cut just 20 days before the election, which ultimately worked in Song’s favor.