Na Kyung-won: "Our candidate Yoon Seok-yeol seems to have little to be scrutinized"

MBC's 'Kim Geon-hee Report' Called "Low-level Scheme Claiming the People's Right to Know"
"Should Not Focus on Gossip-like Election"

Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won commented on the partial release of the recording of Kim Keon-hee, spouse of presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won expressed regret over the release of part of the recorded phone conversation of Kim Gun-hee, spouse of People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, "I feel sorry that the election is going in such a lowbrow manner."

Earlier, MBC's current affairs program 'Exploratory Planning Straight' released part of the transcript of a phone conversation between Kim and a reporter from the YouTube channel 'Seoul's Voice.'

Regarding this, former lawmaker Na said in an interview on BBS Radio's 'Park Kyung-soo's Morning Journal' on the 17th, "Although MBC used the format of a news report, doesn't it sound like a kind of private conversation?" She added, "Where is the verification of the candidate himself going? I wondered how long this gossip-driven election, which started with various suspicions about the candidate and spouse, will continue."

Na strongly criticized the transcript, saying, "It was a politically motivated recording, and MBC, a public broadcaster, reported it. This is a kind of lowbrow manipulation under the pretext of press freedom, verification as a public figure, and the public's right to know."

When the host asked, "There is speculation that Kim's participation in the party's presidential primary is revealed in the transcript," Na responded, "I don't see such parts in the transcript. Interpreting it that way is exaggerated," adding, "I found it quite hard to accept whether it is appropriate to verify by cutting the broadcast into pieces like yesterday's."

Na evaluated, "It would be normal for the election to no longer focus on the seven-hour private conversation. The current election conversation is very abnormal," adding, "Looking at that, it seems our candidate doesn't have much to be verified."