[Summary] "Sewol Ferry Bereaved Families' Tent" Kim Jong-in Withdraws Professor Lee Kyung-jeon's Recruitment After Defending Cha Myung-jin's Remarks

Lee Kyung-jeon, in the past, defended Cha Myung-jin's Sewol Ferry slander on his Facebook
Kim Jong-in "Suggested as an AI expert... I had no idea such a post was made"

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the United Future Party Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, withdrew his plan on the 11th to recruit AI expert Professor Lee Kyung-jeon of Kyung Hee University as the head of the think tank Yeouido Research Institute.

This came after it was belatedly revealed that Professor Lee had posted on his Facebook during the April 15 general election period a post defending remarks made by candidate Cha Myung-jin at a debate, which implied that "the Sewol ferry victims' families had inappropriate relations with volunteer women."

Chairman Kim said in a phone call with Yonhap News on the same day, "I had no idea that he posted such a message," and added, "I told him to consider it as if it never happened."

Chairman Kim emphasized, "I only knew that he was an expert in AI, so I made the proposal," and added, "I met him while looking for someone in that field, so there was absolutely no confusion in the verification process."

Professor Lee Kyung-jeon's Facebook./Internet community capture

On April 10 at around 10:41 a.m., Professor Lee shared an article titled 'Sewol ferry ○○○' on his Facebook, which had become controversial after candidate Cha Myung-jin of the United Future Party mentioned it during a candidate debate, saying, "The public, who were unaware of the ○○○ inside the Sewol ferry victims' families' tent, are gradually realizing that Cha Myung-jin did not make a reckless remark."

When a Facebook friend, apparently a supporter of the United Future Party, asked, "Don't candidates in the metropolitan area say they are dying (to win)?", Professor Lee replied, "Yes. If you gain something, you also lose something."

Professor Lee said, "It probably was not a repeated '○○○' relationship," and added, "It is shocking, but it is something that can happen in life. Anyway, the bizarre, pornographic incident that occurred in the tent of the Sewol ferry victims' families highlights the tragedy of the Sewol ferry incident even more."

He continued, "The Sewol ferry victims' families' tent ○○○ incident is something to be angry about, not to be mocked," and said, "How can people do ○○○ at a place where they are mourning and fighting for the children who died?"

At the time, Chairman Kim, who was the overall election campaign committee chairman of the United Future Party, strongly criticized candidate Cha's 'Sewol ferry ○○○' remarks and overturned the party ethics committee's decision to recommend his withdrawal from the party, ultimately expelling candidate Cha.

Meanwhile, Professor Lee explained the background of his controversial Facebook post, saying, "The intention was to caution against framing candidate Cha's remarks as excessively immoral, which could obscure some truths."