'Lee Jae-myung Prosecutor Impersonation Publicity Material Explanation Controversy'... Kim Jin-tae, "False Information" vs Democratic Party, "Not False"

Special Committee Chair Kim demands halt of distribution, "Election Commission will be an accomplice in false information disclosure"
Democratic Party Election Committee, "No direct impersonation of prosecutors except cooperation with investigation"

Kim Jin-tae, chairman of the People Power Party's 'Lee Jae-myung Corruption Public Verification Special Committee,' is visiting the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to protest the investigation into the Daejang-dong gate. Photo by National Assembly Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Amid the growing controversy over the past record of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung impersonating a prosecutor, Kim Jin-tae, the Special Chairman of the People’s Power Party’s Lee Jae-myung Corruption Public Verification Committee (Chuncheon Gap Party Committee Chairman), demanded the Central Election Commission to stop distributing campaign materials, calling it "false information."

Kim Jin-tae stated on SNS on the 23rd, "The presidential candidate’s campaign materials are scheduled to be sent out today," and added, "I was shocked after seeing Lee Jae-myung’s campaign materials submitted to the Central Election Commission. They have lied so much that now they have even included false information in the campaign materials."

He continued, "The explanation in the campaign materials states that regarding the criminal record of impersonating a public official, 'While a broadcast PD was interviewing candidate Lee Jae-myung, he asked for the name of the prosecutor in charge and important details of the case, which were provided. After a legal dispute, it was ultimately ruled that he helped impersonate a prosecutor.'"

He emphasized, "The person interviewed by the PD was not Lee Jae-myung but the then mayor of Seongnam City. Lee Jae-myung was present at the scene of the prosecutor impersonation crime."

He further explained, "According to the court ruling, Lee Jae-myung and the PD conspired to impersonate a prosecutor and arrange a call with Mayor Kim Byung-ryang of Seongnam. When the PD asked Lee if he knew any prosecutors, Lee provided a prosecutor’s name."

He claimed, "The PD called Mayor Kim Byung-ryang and started the call pretending to be a prosecutor, and at that time, Lee Jae-myung was beside the PD, writing down questions on a memo."

Kim Jin-tae said, "This is completely different from Lee Jae-myung’s explanation. If so, this explanation is false information, so the Central Election Commission should demand its deletion and must not allow its distribution."

He also reiterated, "If it is sent out as is, the commission will become an accomplice in spreading false information, and we cannot distribute false campaign materials to every household using taxpayers’ money."

In response, the Democratic Party’s campaign publicity team rebutted, saying, "Aside from cooperating with the investigation, he never directly impersonated a prosecutor," and "The explanation in the campaign materials is not false."

They added, "Candidate Lee later stated in campaign materials and TV debates that he was wrongly accused of helping because he was next to the PD who was impersonating during the interview," and explained, "Although he was tried for false information disclosure under the Public Official Election Act, he was acquitted in full by the Supreme Court’s retrial in October 2020."