"If I Were President, I Would Ask Lee Jae-myung About Solutions to Korea-Japan Relations"
Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok said that Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea at the center of the '6 billion won coin' controversy, "made many adventurous investments" and that "it’s not that he earned 6 billion won, but there was a time when it was valued at 6 billion won, to that extent."
On the 10th, Lee appeared on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' and said, "There must have been a moment when Representative Kim felt the happiness of 6 billion won once. But it doesn’t seem to be the case now."
Although the coin valuation in Kim’s account once approached 6 billion won, the value has since fluctuated, so the current value is different.
Lee said, "Looking at Representative Kim’s transaction history, there were coins worth several billion won, but the value of those coins dropped to around 3 billion won and some even became practically worthless," adding, "Since this is basically the book value, it doesn’t mean much, but it does seem that he had some adventurous investment tendencies."
He added, "Because it could become a label attached to Representative Kim, like 'Kwak Sang-do’s 5 billion won,' Kim reacted very sensitively and tried to explain, but when he tried to clarify, it was difficult to explain the details clearly, so I think that’s how the situation escalated."
Lee also revealed that he earned enough from trading coins to "fund three election campaigns." Kim raised his case, saying, "When People Power Party’s Lee Jun-seok does it, it becomes 'boasting,' but when Democratic Party’s Kim Nam-guk does it, it becomes a 'controversy,'" raising his voice. Lee dismissed this, saying, "They’re just trying to drag me in to divert attention anyway."
Regarding his reflections on President Yoon Suk-yeol’s first year in office, he said, "I’m curious about what kind of vision the people have seen over the past year," adding, "Over the past year, there have been various attempts within the ruling party to seize power, and policy-wise, it seems there have been several diplomatic moves, but the public is watching to see what the results of this direction will be."
He also said that if he were in the president’s position, he would ask Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung about solutions to Korea-Japan relations. He said, "In the case of the opposition party, if they say they participated in the process of coming up with various ideas, it’s hard to oppose them," adding, "If I were in the president’s position, I would ask Representative Lee, 'This is my solution to Korea-Japan relations; what do you think?'"
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