People Power Party Central Election Countermeasures Committee Fair Election Headquarters, 'Fake Privatization False Propaganda'
Head Kim Woong: "No More Tolerance for Mad Cow Disease Propaganda That Provokes Public Anxiety"
Lee Jae-myung Side: "Stop Deceiving the Public with Stubborn Privatization Accusations, Reflect and Apologize First"
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Democratic Party and the People Power Party engaged in a heated debate on the 22nd over the 'privatization of electricity, water, airports, and railroads.'
On the same day, the People Power Party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee's Fair Election Headquarters announced that it had requested the prosecution to indict Lee Jae-myung, the candidate for the Incheon Gyeyang-eul by-election, and Song Young-gil, the Seoul mayoral candidate, for "false statement publication with the purpose of losing election" under the Public Official Election Act for posting the phrase 'Opposition to privatization of electricity, water, airports, and railroads' on social networking services (SNS).
Photo by Lee Jae-myung, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's General Election Countermeasures Committee, Facebook reference
The People Power Party released a statement saying, "We have also requested the prosecution to indict Lee Jong-won, head of the Reform People's Movement Headquarters, who made remarks on his YouTube broadcast suggesting actively using 'anti-privatization false agitation' as a strategy for the upcoming June 1 local elections, as well as 34 netizens who spread related posts, on the same charges," and conveyed this.
Kim Woong, head of the headquarters, said, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration has never pursued privatization including electricity, water, airports, and railroads," adding, "There will be no more tolerance for such mad cow disease-like agitation that stirs public anxiety."
The election committee pointed out, "The two candidates posted the phrase 'Opposition to privatization of electricity, water, airports, and railroads' on their Facebook accounts around the 18th," and added, "After Lee Jae-myung's post was uploaded, many Democratic Party lawmakers posted the same content on their Facebook pages, and Lee's Facebook post was shared about 1,100 times over two days. Even now, the same false posts are rapidly spreading across various domestic community sites."
They also criticized, "Candidate Song Young-gil proposed a so-called 'national resistance movement' urging people to repeatedly post the phrase every day at 9 a.m.," and "On the following day, the 19th, Song also included the phrase in campaign text messages sent to Seoul voters."
Kim said, "On the 19th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Chu Kyung-ho also stated during the National Assembly Budget Committee's comprehensive policy questioning that the new government has never considered privatization," and criticized, "Despite the privatization policy of transferring public service operation to the private sector neither existing nor announced, the two candidates have continuously led the spread of false information by using placards or text messages with the same phrase during election campaigns as well as on SNS."
He added, "As politicians who have served as presidential candidates and party leaders, they should be the foremost parties to promote fair elections," emphasizing, "Strict legal measures are inevitable against acts that confuse voters by spreading fake privatization. We will root out the spread of fake news and false agitation."
In response, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's general election countermeasures committee chairman, rebutted at a support rally held at the National Sejong Arboretum in the afternoon, saying, "I saw an article saying I was accused of agitation for saying 'Do not privatize.' Isn't there an actual attempt to privatize electricity, railroads, and airports?"
Lee criticized, "Kim Dae-gi, the Presidential Secretary, publicly stated that selling 40% of airport shares is appropriate. Can those who use power meant for the people not for the people but for their own vested interests really create a better future for this country and our people?"
On the same day, Lee's campaign team issued a statement saying, "The People Power Party should stop trying to deceive the public with forced accusations over privatization and start with reflection and apology," and criticized, "It is suspicious whether they are trying to mislead the public with forced accusations after public opinion turned unfavorable due to 'secret privatization' attempts." They continued, "The more they try to gag the mouths of people opposing privatization, the harsher the whip from the sovereign will be," emphasizing, "If there is no plan for public sector privatization, the government and ruling party should apologize and retract Secretary Kim's remarks."
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