Park Jin-young "I may have drunk-driven to save on proxy fees"
Ha Tae-kyung "Most people causing trouble with drunk driving accidents are wealthy... Remarks insult common people"
[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Park Jin-young, spokesperson for Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign, who sparked controversy with remarks defending drunk driving, resigned on the 2nd.
On the 15th of last month, Park shared an article on his social media (SNS) in which former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun advocated for "denying public office opportunities to those with drunk driving criminal records," stating, "Drunk driving is clearly a wrong act, but it may have been done out of a desire to save on substitute driver fees. Poverty can feel like a crime."
He continued, "Preventing (those with drunk driving records) from social activities is an unfair double punishment," adding, "The basic spirit of progressivism is to rescue market losers or social dropouts. Are you trying to brand a single mistake as a life sentence?"
Earlier, since Lee Jae-myung had a record of paying a fine of 1.5 million won for drunk driving in July 2004, there were interpretations that Park's post was intended to defend Lee.
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, is adjusting his glasses during a press briefing held at the Jeonbuk Provincial Council on the 1st. Photo by Yonhap News
In response, Shin In-kyu, full-time deputy spokesperson of the People Power Party, criticized in a statement, "Even if there is a desire to support one's candidate, which citizen can accept justifying drunk driving by linking it to poverty? It is an absurd logic."
Ha Tae-kyung, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party, pointed out on Facebook, "The worst blunder of the 2022 presidential election," adding, "It is a comedy that Lee Jae-myung, a drunk driving offender, is running for president, and now the spokesperson is rubbing salt in the wounds of the people during the peak summer heat."
He continued, "Most people who caused trouble due to drunk driving were wealthy individuals driving expensive foreign cars," and said, "'Drunk driving to save on substitute driver fees because of poverty' is an insult to ordinary people."
Bae Jae-jung, spokesperson for the Lee Nak-yeon campaign, issued a statement saying, "It seems to speak to the hardships of ordinary people struggling day by day, but in reality, it is a forced sophistry to defend candidate Lee Jae-myung's drunk driving," criticizing, "'Poor commoner cosplay' has failed. Rather, it only highlights that candidate Lee Jae-myung was a lawyer with over ten years of experience at the time of the drunk driving incident."
As the controversy arose, Park explained, "I was not affiliated with the campaign at the time of posting, and the post was originally written for the purpose of exchanging opinions with acquaintances." He also changed the post to private.
However, as the controversy did not subside, Park announced, "I will resign from the spokesperson position immediately." It is known that he expressed his intention to resign to avoid causing trouble to the campaign, and the Lee Jae-myung campaign is expected to accept this.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
