Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (left), actress Kim Bu-seon (right). Photo by Asia Economy DB
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Actress Kim Booseon has been publicly criticizing Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate and governor of Gyeonggi Province, on social media, and this time she raised her voice by mentioning Lee's past drunk driving record.
On the 3rd, Kim shared an article on her Facebook about Lee's presidential campaign spokesperson resigning after it was revealed that he posted a message on social media last month seemingly defending drunk driving, writing, "Opposing candidates urgently need to find Lee Jae-myung's drunk driving criminal record."
She said, "Lee Jae-myung once called a designated driver from my house in the early morning," adding, "I told him it was a waste of money since enough time had passed and the alcohol was out of his system, but Lee said that if he got caught drunk driving one more time, his license would be revoked."
She continued, "He said he had already been caught twice," and claimed, "Candidate Lee Jae-myung has more than two drunk driving offenses, and I bet 18 trillion won on that."
Earlier, Park Jinyoung, a former full-time deputy spokesperson for the Democratic Party who was working in Lee Jae-myung's campaign, posted on his Facebook on the 15th of last month, stating, "Drunk driving is definitely a wrong act, but it may have been done out of a desire to save on designated driver fees. Poverty can feel like a crime." He also argued, "Preventing (a person with a drunk driving record) from social activities is an unfair double punishment."
This led to interpretations that he was defending Lee, who has a drunk driving record, and criticism arose both inside and outside the political circle.
As the controversy grew, Park explained that he was not affiliated with Lee's campaign at the time of posting and that the post was originally written to express opinions among acquaintances, and he changed the problematic post to private.
However, amid ongoing controversy, on the 2nd, Park announced his intention to resign, saying, "I will voluntarily step down from the spokesperson position."
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