Suspected of 'Fake Interview'... Ruling Party: "Lee Jae-myung and Kim Man-bae One Team" Opposition: "Audacity"

Lee Jae-myung "20 Billion Won Gangster Rumor, This Is Election Manipulation"
Jang Ye-chan "Impossible Without Prior Coordination"

Regarding the 'Daejang-dong false interview suspicion' involving Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, and Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Korean Federation of Journalists' Unions, the Presidential Office called it a "monumental presidential election manipulation," to which Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, responded by calling it "audacious hypocrisy." While the ruling party points to Lee as the mastermind behind the false interview suspicion, the opposition party suspects political motives from the ruling camp.

On the 6th, on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' Lee said, "If we talk about election manipulation, for example, the People Power Party mobilized organized crime to give me 2 billion won in gangster funds. Isn't that the real election manipulation?" He added, "But that was dismissed without charges, and then the court decided to indict. This is a typical case of audacious hypocrisy and shamelessness."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This appears to refer to the court overturning the prosecution's decision not to indict lawyer Jang Young-ha, who raised the 'gangster involvement theory' against Lee, and deciding to send the case to criminal trial. Lawyer Jang, who was the legal representative of Park Cheol-min, an operative of the violent group 'International Mafia Group,' had in 2021 conveyed Park's claim to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Yong-pan that Lee, while serving as mayor of Seongnam, received 2 billion won from a close associate of the International Mafia Group in exchange for business favors.

The opposition party also holds the view that the Presidential Office brought up this suspicion to 'shift the frame.' Park Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "It felt like President Yoon Seok-yeol and the ruling power are not engaging in politics but relying on the prosecution to continuously create a regressive structure based on past investigations," adding, "There seems to be an intention to drag Lee back into the overall chaos of state affairs and impose a frame on him again."

He stated that Kim's handing over 160 million won to former chairman Shin is a separate issue. He said, "There is clearly a financial transaction between Kim and former chairman Shin. That part should be investigated by the prosecution, and it should be revealed through the prosecution's investigation into their relationship," adding, "What needs to be investigated is why Newstapa reported on this, and going further to connect this to election manipulation involving Lee is an attempt to link them."

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae also dismissed the ruling party's claim of 'presidential election manipulation,' saying, "Everything reported by Newstapa has so far been accurate," and "Newstapa's method is not to broadcast statements just because someone says them; they verify, directly investigate, and confirm everything."

The ruling party has defined this incident as the 'Second Kim Dae-up Gate' and pointed out its connection to Lee. Jang Ye-chan, the youngest Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "Lee and Kim are one team," adding, "Kim planned and created this, but the Democratic Party did not passively accept and cite Kim and Newstapa's reports. Lee knew such reports would come out beforehand, and as soon as they did, all members of the election campaign committee mobilized to launch concentrated attacks on social media. This would have been impossible without prior coordination."

Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, said on YTN's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon,' "(The false interview) happened after a public opinion poll during the presidential election showed about a 7% difference," adding, "But in the end, it finished with a 0.7% difference. I believe this false interview significantly influenced that process. It made it seem as if President Yoon Seok-yeol was a highly corrupt figure, which considerably lowered support for our candidate."