Democratic Party lawmaker An Min-seok sparked controversy after saying on a radio program that "if the ruling party loses the general election, President Yoon Seok-yeol and First Lady Kim Geon-hee will go to prison," prompting ruling party figures to react angrily.
Kim Byung-min, Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, criticized on his social media on the 5th, saying, "(An lawmaker's remarks) are statements that directly violate the judicial order of the Republic of Korea and are the worst reckless remarks that pour fuel on extreme confrontational politics."
Ahn Min-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 31st to announce his candidacy for the Gyeonggi Province governor in the June 1 local elections. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
On the same day, An said on BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal,' "If the People Power Party loses the general election, there will be a lame duck period, and then the next administration will be taken back by the opposition party," adding, "Then, do you think President Yoon and First Lady Kim will be safe? They will probably go to prison."
Kim recalled a past statement by Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Kang-wook, who after winning the 21st general election said, "We will repay so that people can clearly feel that the world has changed," and pointed out, "An's reckless remarks in today's radio interview are connected to such past statements by Democratic Party figures."
He further said, "Isn't the idea that they can use the National Assembly as a shield to protect Lee Jae-myung from judicial risks until the end, and once they win the general election and gain power, they can control and shake even the judicial order of the Republic of Korea as they please?" He added, "Before the Democratic Party talks about prison regarding the president elected by the people, their priority should be to give up the shield for their party leader who is anxiously hovering at the prison threshold."
Kim Jae-seop, head of the Dobong-gap district committee of the People Power Party, also criticized, saying, "Because the Democratic Party is wasting the number of seats in the National Assembly to shield a specific person, such novel ideas come up," and questioned, "Whether it is Lee Jae-myung who said 'If I lose the presidential election, I think I will go to prison' or An who said 'If we win the general election, we will send the presidential couple to prison,' do they see elections as some kind of people's tribunal?"
He added, "Since he is a master of conspiracy theories, there is no trust in the messenger at all, and the message is just noise, but should our precious public broadcast be wasted like this?" and attached the hashtag '#Before_the_general_election_be_sure_to_find_Choi_Soon-sil_300_trillion.'
In the past, An, on a current affairs program, when asked by the host about the scale of Choi Soon-sil's hidden assets, cited the Fraser Report and said, "The amount of Park Chung-hee's ruling funds was 8.9 trillion won in the money of that time, which is over 300 trillion won in today's money." Although An did not directly say that Choi Soon-sil's hidden assets amount to 300 trillion won, this remark led to rumors that her hidden assets reached 300 trillion won.
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