Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun Claims Behind-the-Scenes Theory of Grandma Lee Yong-soo's Press Conference
Democratic Party Winner Yoon Mi-hyang Actively Explains Controversy on Kim's Broadcast
Grandmother Lee Yong-soo and former Justice Memory Solidarity representative Yoon Mee-hyang [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun raised a kind of conspiracy theory on the 26th regarding the press conference held the previous day (25th) by Japanese military comfort women victim grandmother Lee Yong-soo (92), saying, "If you read the press conference statement, it clearly does not seem to have been written by grandmother Lee Yong-soo. Isn't someone involved in distortion?"
This is not the first time Kim has raised suspicions about the various controversies surrounding Yoon Mi-hyang, the elected member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
Earlier, on the 21st, on his radio show 'tbs News Factory,' Kim commented on reports that Yoon's husband had "coerced North Korean defectors to defect to the North" at the Anseong comfort women shelter, saying, "They first said he embezzled money, and when that somewhat took hold, now they are trying to brand him as a spy."
In particular, Kim showed a stance of actively defending not only Yoon but also ruling party officials when they were embroiled in various suspicions. During the former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's scandal, he defined Cho as the presidential candidate most feared by the opposition, framing it as a kind of political issue.
On the 26th broadcast, Kim again claimed there was a behind-the-scenes theory regarding grandmother Lee's press conference. Responding to criticism about why a comfort women issue is being discussed by a group focused on the issue of 'Jeongsindae' (military sexual slavery victims), he said, "It's a nonsensical story to say that a group that has focused solely on the comfort women issue for 30 years would only care about the Jeongsindae issue and use the comfort women issue for their own purposes."
He added, "Until the late 1980s, the two terms were used interchangeably. The organization was launched without distinguishing the terms and was named Jeongdae-hyeop (Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery), but from the beginning, it focused solely on the comfort women issue." He further claimed, "Someone gave grandmother distorted information reflecting their own stance."
Kim then mentioned Choi Yong-sang, leader of the Gaja Human Rights and Peace Party. Kim said, "So far, what grandmother Lee has said is similar to Choi's claims, and Choi's logic appears in the pre-press conference statement. A civic group that mainly focused on forced labor issues later became a political party, which is the Gaja Human Rights and Peace Party. They applied for nomination as a minority party quota in the Together Citizens' Party but were rejected and claim they were rejected because of Yoon Mi-hyang's election."
Regarding the part of grandmother Lee's press conference statement that said, "We must prepare new capabilities with the power of the people, not relying on a few elites or the achievements of Jeongdae-hyeop," Kim argued, "That is not the kind of language an elderly person of that age would use. It is a term that appears when civic groups lead organizations."
He also said, "The following statement is, 'We should let those who helped me solve this issue.' I suspect that the people who helped are the ones occupying the position of Justice and Peace Foundation."
Kim said grandmother Lee has had a connection with Choi since she applied for a parliamentary nomination in the past, saying, "In 2012, grandmother Lee applied for proportional representation with both the Saenuri Party and the Democratic Party to become a member of the National Assembly. Choi was involved in that matter. Whether before or after, at least they had a relationship to the extent that they appeared together at grandmother Lee's first press conference on the 7th."
He added, "(Someone) is involved in distortion, the media sees it as a chance, and the prosecution quickly conducted a search and seizure because it is a case that burdens the regime," and said, "The biggest beneficiaries are some far-right forces."
Regarding the controversy over accounting and donation usage, he dismissed it, saying, "I exclude the embezzlement part because grandmother cannot know about that."
Kim Eo-jun's 'conspiracy theory' also appeared in the suspicions surrounding former Justice Minister Cho Kuk. At that time, on August 23 last year, on 'Dasbwoida,' Kim claimed that the media reports and opposition party attacks were part of a strategy to eliminate Cho, saying, "Cho Kuk is the presidential candidate most feared by conservatives. This is part of a plan to eliminate the next candidate."
Regarding allegations against Cho's family, he said, "Attacking the child (Cho Min) is also good for provoking that age group (20s) and for online comment operations."
Regarding the 'Nth Room' case, a crime involving threatening underage women to produce sexual exploitation materials and distributing them via Telegram messenger, when the opposition party said, "If our party members are involved in similar cases, they will be expelled from politics," Kim argued, "You have to look at it from the perspective of a conspiracy."
He added, "Didn't they issue a statement? This is a message carefully crafted."
On the 13th, Yoon Mi-hyang appeared on Kim's broadcast and actively explained the issues surrounding her.
Regarding allegations of misuse of donations by the Justice and Peace Foundation, she said, "(Those raising suspicions) are trying to divide grandmothers and activists, trying to silence the voices of the past 30 years that have worked to resolve the Japanese military sexual slavery issue, and trying to restrict my voice."
On that day, Yoon claimed the accounting-related suspicions were "clerical errors." Regarding the disclosure of donor lists, when Kim said, "Many donors do not want their names to be disclosed, so they cannot be released," Yoon replied, "That's right."
Yoon expressed strong dissatisfaction with the media reporting on her suspicions. She said that on the 12th, three reporters came to her home and said, "My daughter is taking online classes at home because she came back to Korea due to COVID-19. So she is at home. It's too cruel. I demand that this be stopped immediately."
When Kim said, "She must be good at studying," she replied, "Exactly."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
