[Asia Economy=Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential primary candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, asserted that the media interfering in the election through malicious distortion must be held accountable as a serious crime.
This statement is interpreted as a warning in response to recent conservative media reports portraying Lee Jae-myung as having committed massive corruption while serving as mayor of Seongnam during the 'Seongnam Daejang-dong private development project,' thereby directly or indirectly interfering in next year's presidential election.
On the 23rd, Lee posted on Facebook titled "Malicious distortion interfering in elections is a serious crime that must be held accountable," strongly criticizing, saying, "Fake news aimed at disadvantaging a specific candidate constitutes false information dissemination, candidate defamation, election interference, damage to reputation, and even acts that undermine the constitutional order."
He continued, "A society where no one can gain by breaking the law, and no one suffers loss by abiding by the law?a society where no person, region, or sector is treated unfairly?is a fair and just society," adding, "Malicious media not only praised Chun Doo-hwan and further victimized the unjustly treated victims of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising by labeling them as rioters, but also deceived innocent citizens with fake news, turning them into mental zombies who defend mass murder."
Furthermore, he emphasized, "That crime is beyond mass murder," and stressed, "In addition to criminal punishment for intentional and malicious false reporting, strong punitive damages are absolutely necessary."
Meanwhile, a recent domestic media trust survey conducted by 'SisaIN' revealed that the most distrusted media outlet was Chosun Ilbo (17.4%).
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