Lee Jun-seok "I have never been investigated regarding this... I will file a lawsuit"
Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, is leaving a hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, after having a luncheon meeting with Kim Jong-in, the chairman of the party's election committee, on the 22nd. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] The YouTube channel 'Garosero Research Institute (Gaseyeon)' that raised the 'sexual bribery allegations' against Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, said it received another tip related to Lee and warned, "Answer whether you went to a room salon or not. We hope that there will be no need for additional videos."
Earlier, on the 27th, Gaseyeon claimed through a YouTube broadcast, "In 2013, Lee received sexual favors from Kim Sung-jin, CEO of iKist, at a hotel in Daejeon," and "This was confirmed through investigation materials from the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office."
Gaseyeon said it confirmed that Kim's investigation records at the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office included statements about sexual bribery involving Lee. iKist is known as an information and communication technology company that was considered a representative 'creative economy' enterprise during the Park Geun-hye administration. Kim was sentenced to 9 years in prison and fined 3.1 billion KRW in September 2018 for embezzling hundreds of billions of won in investment funds.
However, according to a media report, a Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office official at the time said they have no recollection of any prostitution allegations or whether Lee was included in the investigation.
Regarding these allegations, Lee dismissed them in a Facebook post, saying, "This is an attack based on a suspect's statement and is unrelated to me," and added, "If any issues regarding me had been found during the investigation of iKist, an investigation would have been conducted at that time, but I have never been investigated nor contacted about this matter."
In response, on the 28th, Gaseyeon posted on its YouTube channel community, refuting Lee's claims by stating, "This is not a suspect's statement. It is investigation material from the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, and the evidence record was written by the then deputy chief prosecutor."
Gaseyeon questioned, "A suspect's statement? There were two people in charge of protocol at the time. Kim ○○ and Jang ○○ are victims of the con artist Kim Sung-jin. They were deceived by Kim Sung-jin and even provided protocol and paid for entertainment expenses. Are you going to label them as con artists too?"
They continued, "It is clearly recorded in the prosecution's investigation evidence submitted to the court. Stop the nonsense and properly answer whether you went to the Daejeon room salon on August 15, 2013."
Gaseyeon also said in a later post that they received another tip related to Lee. Gaseyeon stated, "Today, we received a very meaningful phone call again" and added, "Without even going to Daejeon, if we talk about this, you will realize how ridiculous Lee Jun-seok really is."
Meanwhile, Lee announced plans to sue Gaseyeon to the police soon. The party leader's office said in a media notice, "The contents raised by Gaseyeon are not true. We will sue for defamation based on false information," and "The complaint will be submitted soon."
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