A ruling party lawmaker close to President Moon Jae-in on Thursday pressed ahead with his bid to run in the June local elections despite speculation about his alleged link to an online opinion rigging scandal.

Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo of the Democratic Party officially announced his intention to join the race for the South Gyeongsang Province governor post, hours after he abruptly canceled a pre-arranged press conference for his election bid, sparking speculation that he might opt out of the race.

Kim called the speculation about the scandal "preposterous" and vowed to "confidently" respond to any probe if necessary.

"I call for a prompt investigation to end partisan strife," he told reporters.

"I thought that I can no longer leave South Gyeongsang Province in a quagmire of irresponsible political wrangling related to me," he added.

Kim's opponents have continued to link Kim to the burgeoning scandal, as he has said that the key suspect in it, nicknamed Druking, has contacted him since 2016 and asked for job favors. But Kim flatly denies any involvement in the scandal.

Druking and two others have been indicted for allegedly using a computer program in January to jack up the number of "likes" or "feel the same way" clicks for two comments critical of the liberal government on a news article carried by the online portal Naver.

They reportedly told police that they wanted to make it look like conservatives manipulated the comments, as they tried to test the program.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party has submitted a bill to enact an independent counsel probe into the case.

Moon's foes and rivals have raised suspicion that Druking might have rigged online opinion even in the lead-up to last year's presidential election. The ruling party has dismissed the allegations as a "lowbrow" political offensive ahead of the local elections. (Yonhap)