Lee Jae-myung "If Won Hee-ryong comes to Incheon... Worry about GTX like Yangpyeong Expressway"

Criticizing the Sacheon Controversy and the People Power Party's Nomination Process
"The ruling party nominated Kim Young-joo, who failed to explain hiring corruption"
"Some media spreading fake news, isn't it illegal electioneering?"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, compared the controversies arising during the nomination process with those of the People Power Party's nominations and aimed a warning at former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong, who is his opponent in the 'Incheon Gyeyang-gu Eul' race. He claimed that similar issues could arise on the Incheon GTX line, just like the Yangpyeong Expressway project, which was embroiled in allegations of favoritism toward President Yoon Seok-yeol's in-laws.

At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 6th, Lee said, "Former Minister Won Hee-ryong suddenly changed the Yangpyeong Expressway route near President Yoon Seok-yeol's in-laws' land. Although he pretends to be unrelated, isn't it now revealed that he is responsible?" He added, "There are concerns in Incheon that the GTX line might also be altered. Aren't you worried?"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is presiding over the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He continued, "Candidates suspected of abusing state power for personal gain are boldly recommended as sole candidates (by the ruling party)," criticizing, "Even those involved in covering up the death of a marine were nominated, such as Shin Beom-cheol and Im Jong-deuk." He added, "Instead of holding them accountable, the reality of the People Power Party's nominations is to pave a flower path for them."

He strongly refuted the allegations of private recommendations surrounding himself. He said, "There are many claims that the Democratic Party's nominations are private recommendations, crony nominations, or pro-Lee nominations." He pointed out, "While the ruling party's baseless accusations are problematic, the seriously wrong behavior of some media outlets that create fake news supporting the ruling party's false claims is even more serious." He added, "Some even wrote that I was pro-Lee when I received a sole nomination, then anti-Lee when it became a primary, and again pro-Lee when it reverted to a sole nomination," questioning, "Isn't this illegal election activity aimed at causing defeat?"

He particularly launched an offensive by mentioning Kim Young-joo, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, who left the Democratic Party in protest of a low evaluation. "The Democratic Party strictly and objectively evaluates four years of legislative activities of incumbents," he said. "Deputy Speaker Kim Young-joo failed to properly explain the so-called 'employment corruption allegations' that the public despises." He claimed, "Candidates with employment corruption suspicions were filtered out by an objective quantitative evaluation system, but the People Power Party recruited and nominated such candidates," and added, "Isn't candidate Kwon Seong-dong also a famous 'employment specialist' lawmaker?"

He also referred to People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Woo-taek, who was suspected of accepting money envelopes, saying, "If it were our Democratic Party, if it was confirmed that money envelopes were exchanged, the candidate would never be nominated and would have been excluded at the eligibility screening stage, not even reaching the nomination review." He pointed out, "The People Power Party nominated candidate Jeong Woo-taek as a sole candidate, but wasn't there CCTV footage showing the exchange of money envelopes?" He emphasized, "If we do not judge (the ruling party) in this general election, what will happen to the country? If we hand over legislative power to the National Assembly, the law, system, and institutions will be completely destroyed."