"It Was 'Like Introducing Foreign Articles'... Iraegyeong Even Wrote an Opinion Piece Suggesting the U.S. as the Origin of COVID"

Suspected Origin of US Bio Research Lab in Media Op-Ed
"US Military Received Data from Japan's Unit 731"
"Spread Cholera, Typhoid, Plague, Hemorrhagic Fever"
"Xinjiang Uyghur Minority Enjoying Prosperous Life"

Lee Rae-kyung, the newly appointed Innovation Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea who is set to lead the party's reform, is facing controversy for having previously claimed on his social media accounts that the Cheonan ship sinking was a self-destruction and that the United States was the origin of COVID-19. It is known that he even contributed an article to a media outlet supporting the theory that COVID-19 originated in the U.S.

In an interview with Hankyoreh on the 5th, when asked by a reporter whether it was true that he had said on social media that the origin of COVID-19 could be the United States, Lee responded, "I was just introducing foreign articles."

[Photo by Raekyung Lee, Innovation Committee Chair, Facebook]

However, a review of his past writings shows that it was not merely a matter of introducing foreign articles. In particular, in a 2021 column titled "America’s Trick to Spread the Wuhan Origin Theory of COVID-19" published in Pressian, he directly argued the theory that COVID-19 originated in the U.S.

In the column, he stated, "Regarding the Wuhan laboratory origin theory, I would like to present my position as follows," and claimed, "Since spring 2019, coronaviruses or their antibodies had already been detected in various parts of Europe such as Spain and Italy, and in November, many suspected zero patients of COVID-19 were identified in France and other places."

He further speculated, "The COVID-19 virus occurred repeatedly around the world during spring and summer of 2019, gradually evolving through latent transmission to humans into a lethal form, and it was spread worldwide around November through the International Military Sports Council event held in Wuhan, China."

Lee’s assertion of the "COVID-19 U.S. origin theory" is based on this premise. He said, "The possibility of artificial manipulation through military bio-experiments or accidental leakage cannot be completely ruled out, and to confirm this, second and third professional investigations through global cooperation systems must be conducted," adding, "A particularly noteworthy location in this regard is the U.S. military bio-research institute located in Maryland."

He explained, "The reason this location is noteworthy is that the long-term closure of the largest U.S. military bio-base in the fall of 2019 for the sole reason of reinforcing wastewater treatment facilities is not a reasonable explanation, and it has been confirmed that several personnel working at the institute at that time participated in the Wuhan International Military Sports Council event and visited Wuhan City."

He is raising suspicions that COVID-19 originated at the U.S. military bio-research institute in Maryland and that those personnel visiting Wuhan may have contributed to the spread of COVID-19. Furthermore, Lee claimed, "The historical actions of the U.S. military after World War II deepen the possibility of suspicion," alleging that the U.S. military received experimental data from Japan’s Unit 731 during World War II and deliberately spread cholera, typhoid, plague, and hemorrhagic fever during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

In his article, Lee also emphasized that ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China "are enjoying a prosperous and free life." He stated, "Regarding Xinjiang, I have introduced overseas columns and various perspectives about ten times on the Other Hundred Years platform in the first half of this year, specifically exposing how the U.S. and the U.K. have seriously exaggerated, distorted, and even fabricated facts using major media outlets," and added, "The Chinese authorities state that ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, including the Uygur people, have been enjoying a very prosperous and free life since recorded history."