Won Hee-ryong: "My wife said 'Lee Jae-myung is a sociopath'... There was no verbal warning"

"Just Expressing Opinions... Not a Violation of Medical Law"

Jeon Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Province, and his wife Kang Yoon-hyung. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Former Jeju Governor and People Power Party presidential candidate Won Hee-ryong denied claims that he received a verbal warning from the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association regarding his wife Kang Yoon-hyung's statement that "Lee Jae-myung is a sociopath," calling the claims "false information."

On the 26th, Won posted on his social media, "(Some media outlets) fabricated the interview content, writing that there was a verbal warning that never happened and that my wife apologized. It is a false fabrication close to fiction," he said.

He continued, "There was no verbal warning, and no disciplinary procedures were ever discussed. My wife, Dr. Kang Yoon-hyung, also stands firmly that she expressed her opinion as a citizen of the nation," he emphasized.

He added, "Dr. Kang's opinion that Lee Jae-myung is a sociopath was not a medical diagnosis since she never personally treated him as a patient, but merely expressed an opinion, so it was never a violation of medical law in the first place."

Won stressed, "The clear fact is that these two false articles were used as mudslinging by the Democratic Party side. I dream of a Republic of Korea where media neutrality and fairness are restored."

On the 20th, Mr. Kang Yoon-hyung appeared on the Maeil Shinmun YouTube channel 'Gwanpungnu'. / Photo by Maeil Shinmun official YouTube channel capture

Earlier, on the 20th, Kang stated on the Maeil Newspaper YouTube channel 'Gwanpungnu' that Lee showed traits "not so much like Jekyll and Hyde or Janus, but more like a sociopath or antisocial tendencies," adding, "It is called antisocial personality disorder, where the person himself is not troubled, but those around him suffer, so treatment is difficult."

She continued, "Looking at the verbal abuse incident toward his older brother and sister-in-law, and the commotion with Kim Bu-seon, he shows behavior completely indifferent to others' pain or harm," and said, "From an outsider's perspective, he is rather charming. From the standpoint of not being directly affected, these aspects can be attractive. Even if he is a con artist, he commits fraud with 95% truth and 5% lies. It is frightening."

Meanwhile, Lee's side is demanding an apology from Won's camp, claiming that Kang's baseless defamation of a candidate running for public office violates the Public Official Election Act. They have stated that if no apology is made, they will consider legal action.