Kim Gun-hee's Over 50 Calls with 'Seoul's Voice' Reporter
Actively Explains Escort Allegations... Also Proposed 'Let's Work Together' to Reporter
Ruling Party Figure's 'Me Too' Comment: "It's Bleak, I Feel Sorry for Ahn Hee-jung"
Kim Gun-hee's Side: "Not Involved in Yoon Candidate's Political Activities"
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] It has been revealed that Kim Gun-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, maintained a close relationship by referring to each other as “noona” (older sister) and “dongsaeng” (younger sibling) during over 50 phone calls with a YouTube media reporter. Kim offered the reporter a position in the campaign and explained allegations concerning her private life.
On the afternoon of the 16th, MBC’s investigative program "Straight" released recorded phone conversations between Kim and Lee Myung-soo, a reporter from the YouTube media outlet "Seoul’s Voice."
According to the report, Kim and reporter Lee maintained a close relationship by calling each other noona and dongsaeng. Kim proposed working together and requested information obtained from the field.
Their first phone call was on July 6 of last year. When reporter Lee called to request an interview, Kim declined, saying, "I will not do interviews with journalists for the time being." This reveals that Lee had identified himself as a reporter from the start when requesting the interview. On the 14th, Lee Yang-su, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party’s election campaign headquarters, claimed, "Mr. Lee approached Kim Gun-hee with lies and with the intent to illegally record conversations from the beginning."
On the afternoon of the 16th, MBC's investigative program Straight released a transcript of a phone conversation between Kim Geon-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, and Lee Myung-soo, a reporter from the YouTube channel Seoul's Voice. Photo by MBC's Straight video capture
During this call, Kim expressed gratitude for reporter Baek Eun-jong of Seoul’s Voice, who had protested at 'Newstapa' after it published critical reports about candidate Yoon in 2019. Kim said, "At that time, Mr. Baek Eun-jong from Seoul’s Voice went to Newstapa to protest regarding my husband’s coverage, and I was so grateful that I donated a lot under other people’s names. I even shed tears."
Subsequently, Kim proposed working together with reporter Lee. On July 12 last year, Kim told Lee, "Anyway, I believe you will become my ally someday, and honestly, I wish I could bring you into our campaign. That’s how I feel, really," adding, "Work with us, and together we will achieve good results."
Regarding this, on September 3 last year, when Lee asked, "If I join, what role would I have?" Kim replied, "There’s a lot to do. You have to do exactly what I tell you. Intelligence work. Our dongsaeng is good at gathering information on the ground. Not just sitting at a desk inside, but going out and exchanging information."
She also said to Lee, "Do you think Lee Jae-myung would take care of you if he wins? No way," adding, "You should get as much as Myung-soo does. If you do well, I could even give you 100 million won."
In fact, at Kim’s request, reporter Lee gave a lecture at the Cobana Contents office on August 30 last year. On July 21, Kim asked, "Could you come once and give a lecture to a few of us when we form the campaign? If you do that, we can use those rules."
Kim also actively defended herself against allegations of being a hostess. In a call on July 21 last year, she said, "I dislike going to nightclubs. I don’t like noisy places," explaining, "I’m a very spiritual person, so I’d rather read books or talk with shamans about ‘what life is.’ That’s what I like. That doesn’t suit me. I play classical music all day long."
In a call on December 11 last year, she said, "Why would I live with a married man who has a wife? My mother has plenty of money; why would she sell her daughter? She’s a daughter who wouldn’t even let anyone touch a finger on her."
On the afternoon of the 16th, MBC's investigative program "Straight" released a transcript of a phone call between Kim Geon-hee, the spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, and Lee Myung-soo, a reporter from the YouTube media outlet "Seoul's Voice." Photo by MBC's "Straight" video capture
Kim also mentioned sexual scandal cases involving figures from the ruling party. In a call on November 15 last year, she said, "Conservatives definitely take care of their own. They don’t exploit people for free. That’s why the Me Too movement hasn’t really exploded here. The Me Too cases happen because they don’t take care of people financially."
She continued, "The Me Too movement was first triggered by the Moon Jae-in administration trying to catch those cases. Why would they try to catch Me Too cases? Life is too harsh. Honestly, I feel sorry for Ahn Hee-jung. My husband and I are very much on Ahn Hee-jung’s side." Former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung was convicted by the Supreme Court for sexually assaulting and molesting his secretary A, using his power.
Meanwhile, Straight reported that they requested multiple interviews with Kim’s side but received no response. On the 14th, Kim’s side stated in a written response, "Kim Gun-hee does not involve herself in Yoon’s political activities nor in the election campaign. She made very inappropriate remarks while criticizing some ruling party and progressive figures accused of sexual exploitation. We sincerely apologize to the public," they told Straight.
Regarding the offer of a campaign position to reporter Lee, they explained, "The statement about finding a campaign position for reporter Lee was a general comment made because Lee said he would quit his current job first, and we intended to help him."
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