"I will request expulsion from the party's ethics committee"
"The sexual bribery scandal was not merely an accident"
On October 12, Ahn Cheolsoo, a lawmaker from the People Power Party and the senior advisor to the election campaign committee for the Seoul Gangseo-gu mayoral by-election, announced that he would request the party's ethics committee to expel former party leader Lee Junseok.
On his social media account that day, Representative Ahn stated, "We must expel Lee Junseok, who is undermining the party from within, and pursue an expansionist strategy with rational forces."
He continued, "We need to restore discipline within the party by disciplining politicians who have only criticized their own party. It is important to distinguish between politicians who offer constructive criticism for the party's betterment and those who criticize the party solely for their own political gain. I will report to the party's ethics committee the actions of former leader Lee during the Gangseo-gu election."
Ahn claims that Lee spread 'fake news' regarding Ahn's alleged use of profanity. Ahn explained, "On the morning of October 10, during a radio broadcast, Lee claimed that on the evening of October 9, during a campaign rally in Gangseo-gu, I insulted the Democratic Party candidate with crude language, saying 'XXhago jappajyeotjyo,' and that I was largely responsible for the election defeat, second only to the President and Representative Kim Gi-hyeon. In reality, during the rally, a citizen who appeared to be a Democratic Party supporter hurled profanities at me, saying 'Jixxhago jappajyeotne, gaexxgi.' I took this as criticism from a heated supporter and responded humorously, saying, 'XXhago jappajyeojiyo? Hahaha.'"
He added, "All of this is clearly recorded on video. However, on the internet, only the part where the citizen said 'XXhago jappajyeotne, XXggi' was deleted, and an edited clip was maliciously circulated showing only my humorous response."
Ahn continued, "Since it is a common tactic for the Democratic Party to spread fake news, I was prepared for it. However, it was actually former leader Lee who first produced and spread the fake news. Until then, major media outlets had not considered it newsworthy, but after Lee made his comments on the broadcast, the Democratic Party spokesperson quickly followed up with a statement harshly criticizing me."
He further stated, "Seeing former leader Lee, who once claimed to represent young people in their 20s and 30s and bring new politics, attack me with a fake edited video during my campaign rally, I am convinced that his past involvement in the sexual bribery scandal was not just an accident. Lee, who survives by undermining the party from within and sets no example for young people, must now be expelled."
In response, Lee Junseok shared Ahn's post and wrote, "You're writing a long post full of nonsense, aren't you?"
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