"The Swear Words of Lee Jae-myung Are Private Family Matters, Kim Geon-hee's Are Public Communication"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Ju-hee] Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, defended presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung regarding Lee's 'swearing audio recordings' and People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl's spouse Kim Geon-hee's 'phone call recordings,' stating, "The essence of the two incidents is worlds apart."
On the 19th, Woo posted on his Facebook, "I hope the People Power Party stops their vile attacks surrounding Lee's family matters," and argued, "The content of Kim's phone calls involved public communication with a journalist, a public figure, inherently implying the possibility of disclosure."
Currently, in the political arena, there is a fierce battle over the 'audio recording revelations' related to the candidates of the two major parties. Recently, after MBC's 'Straight' reported on the private phone call recordings between Kim and a journalist, lawyer Jang Young-ha, author of 'Goodbye, Lee Jae-myung,' held a press conference at the National Assembly on the 18th and released 34 unpublished audio files containing Lee's swearing, totaling 160 minutes. This was interpreted as a countermeasure against Kim's phone call recordings.
'Goodbye Lee Jae-myung' author lawyer Jang Young-ha is holding an additional press conference on the morning of the 19th at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, regarding the profanity file of the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, which was disclosed the previous day. / Photo by Yonhap News
Regarding this, Woo explained, "Lee's audio files are different from Kim's phone call recordings. Above all, they are intimate family matters," adding, "Lee has had deep affection for his mother since childhood, and when his third brother, with whom he had a dispute, verbally abused and assaulted their mother with expressions unfit to mention, Lee became enraged and exchanged harsh words over the phone."
He continued, "This is a category of issue that Lee finds difficult to actively explain," and "Lee's family unanimously acknowledges that the cause of the incident lies with the third brother, and another brother has directly stepped forward to clarify."
Furthermore, he emphasized, "The People Power Party is exploiting Lee's difficulty in addressing this himself to launch a misguided political attack, trying to portray him as a disrespectful demon," and added, "No matter how important gaining power is, one must not abandon even the minimum humanity."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the prosecution against lawyer Jang for violating the Public Official Election Act. The Democratic Party's Election Countermeasures Committee's National Verification Legal Support Group stated in a press release, "Regardless of Lee's qualifications for public office, releasing the audio files of swearing during disputes with his brother and sister-in-law and holding a press conference is a clear act of candidate defamation," and "This undermines the reliability and objectivity of the presidential election, misleads voters' choices in the imminent election, and raises concerns about significantly adverse effects on the public interest."
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