Lee Jae-myung: "Rumors of Favoritism in Nominations Are False... Yoon, Do Not Interfere in the Election"

Lee Jae-myung Begins On-Site Campaigning in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul
On Sacheon Controversy: "Who Among My Close Aides Received Nomination?"
Targeting Yoon: "Will He Keep Promises After Absurd Election?"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, visited the Yeongdeungpo area in Seoul, known as part of the fiercely contested 'Hangang Belt' for the general election, to emphasize the 'judgment against the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.' In particular, he criticized the People Power Party's nomination process as 'incumbent undefeated,' while refuting rumors of private recommendations surrounding himself as 'nonsense.'

On the afternoon of the 5th, Lee held an emergency press conference at the plaza in front of Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo branch in Seoul, stating, "The People Power Party is all doing 'recycled nominations,' claiming 'incumbent undefeated,' and haven't they all survived?" He added, "Even if distorted, fabricated, and fictitious information floods the legitimate, transparent, and fair nominations of the Democratic Party, I hope the truth will be carefully discerned amidst it all."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Chae Hyun-il, former mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu and candidate for Yeongdeungpo-gu Gap in Seoul, greeted citizens on the 5th at the New Town underground shopping mall in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He said, "The Democratic Party's nomination rules were already established a year ago," and criticized, "The People Power Party has now created a nomination system where the emergency committee chairman and floor leader can arbitrarily assign 15 points each out of 100, which means they intend to nominate candidates at their discretion."

He particularly emphasized, "There are rumors spreading that I tried to build and did build a close faction during the nomination process, but these are nonsense," and said, "They say I made private recommendations or nominated close aides, but I challenge you to point out who among my close associates received nominations."

Regarding the controversy over Kwon Hyang-yeop, former Blue House Balanced Personnel Secretary, who was strategically nominated in the constituencies of Suncheon-si, Gwangyang-si, Gokseong-gun, and Gurye-gun in Jeollanam-do, Lee strongly refuted it as "malicious fake news that distorts and disparages the truth." Kwon previously served as an aide to Lee's spouse, Kim Hye-kyung, which led to accusations that Lee nominated a close aide.

Lee stated, "There is no personal connection with (former Secretary Kwon, yet they put quotation marks around 'secretary' in reports and use this as a basis to accuse me of private recommendations (by the People Power Party)," and warned, "Including this matter, I will take legal action against the ruling party, government, and even the president who spread fake news or rely on fake news to disrupt the election order, and they will be held accountable someday."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Chae Hyun-il, former mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu and candidate for Yeongdeungpo-gu Gap in Seoul, are eating tteokbokki at a snack bar near the New Town underground shopping mall in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on the 5th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He also claimed that President Yoon Seok-yeol is interfering in the election. He said, "From the president to the ruling party, and even the media that should remain neutral, some are conspiring to spread fake news and are conducting illegal election campaigns using state power," and sharply criticized, "How is this different from the March 15 fraudulent election?" He added, "(President Yoon) should refrain from his usual activities to avoid influencing the election, but instead, he is going around holding various meetings under different pretexts and effectively announcing policies that are no different from campaign pledges," and questioned, "These are absurd promises amounting to 800 trillion to 900 trillion won; will he keep them after the election?"

Following his campaign activities the previous day supporting Gwak Sang-eon, son-in-law of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun and candidate for Seoul Jongno-gu, Lee toured sites including the Yeongdeungpo New Town underground shopping mall with Chae Hyun-il, candidate for Yeongdeungpo-gu Gap. Yeongdeungpo-gu Gap is the constituency of Kim Young-joo, the National Assembly Deputy Speaker, who joined the People Power Party after leaving the Democratic Party in protest of a low evaluation as an incumbent lawmaker. Lee directly addressed Kim, saying, "It is completely unacceptable to leave the party over a fair evaluation and join the opposing party," and "After hearing what you say in the opposing party, I wondered if the words of someone who even served as our party's National Assembly Deputy Speaker are correct."