Lee Jae-myung, "If I lose, it's prison for a crime I didn't commit," Kim Jin-tae, "With four prior convictions, his instincts are sharp"

Kim Jin-tae, "Sufficient for the crimes committed"... Listing Daejang-dong, lawyer fees, forced hospitalization, Seongnam FC, etc.
Lee Jae-myung, "Although harshly investigated during past administrations, no crimes are fabricated"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Amid unresolved public suspicions regarding preferential treatment allegations in the Daejang-dong development project, the remarks by Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, stating "(If I lose the presidential election) I think I will go to prison for crimes I did not commit," are causing a stir.

In an impromptu speech held on the 22nd at Seokchon Lake in Songpa-gu, Seoul, Candidate Lee said, "(During past administrations) even if they harshly investigated to see if there were any wrongdoings, they did not fabricate crimes that did not exist," adding, "This time, if I lose, I think I will go to prison for crimes I did not commit."

Kim Jin-tae, Chairman of the People Power Party’s Special Committee for Public Verification of Lee Jae-myung’s Corruption (Chuncheon Gap Party Committee Chairman), responded on the 23rd via SNS regarding Lee’s remarks, saying, "This is the kind of thinking expected from someone who tried to commit his perfectly sane older brother to a psychiatric hospital." He added, "You don’t have to worry about that. You have enough 'real crimes'."

He then listed the allegations surrounding Candidate Lee, saying, "Daejang-dong breach of trust in office, suspicions of lawyer fee payments, accusations of bribery involving gangsters, forced psychiatric hospitalization of Kim Sa-rang, illegal donations to Seongnam FC, and so on..."

He continued, "In a normal country, could someone become a presidential candidate and remain unscathed after all this? Lee Jae-myung knows his own fate," and sarcastically added, "Maybe it’s because he has four prior convictions that his intuition is so sharp."

Meanwhile, within and outside political circles, there is an interpretation that Candidate Lee’s remarks reveal his desperation amid a boxed-in situation where his approval ratings remain stuck in the 30% range despite releasing various policies.

In particular, some view his comments as an implicit admission that there are charges that could serve as pretexts, such as the Daejang-dong allegations and suspicions of lawyer fee payments.

The Democratic Party explains that Candidate Lee’s remarks were intended to criticize "Yoon Seok-youl candidate’s retaliatory politics."