With Public Office Commission "Jung Woo-taek's 'Money Envelope Suspicion' Lacks Objectivity... Objection Dismissed"

Kim Hyung-dong's "Election Law Violation Search and Seizure" to Reach "Conclusion Next Week"

The People Power Party's Nomination Management Committee dismissed the objection to the nomination of Jeong Woo-taek, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, for the April 10 general election in the Cheongju Sangdang district, amid allegations of accepting money envelopes.

Jeong Young-hwan, the head of the Nomination Management Committee, stated at a briefing at the Yeouido party headquarters on the same day regarding the allegations against Deputy Speaker Jeong, "We discussed this in the morning meeting and the Clean Nomination Support Team also verified several facts, confirming the factual parts. The committee concluded to dismiss the objection as it found the claims to lack objectivity and to be insufficient."

Jeong, a five-term incumbent in the district, secured the nomination through a primary election on the 25th of last month.

However, a media outlet released CCTV footage showing Deputy Speaker Jeong receiving a white envelope from a man and putting it into his pocket, sparking allegations of accepting money envelopes.

The lawyer of Mr. A, a cafe owner identified as the person who handed the money envelope to Representative Jeong, stated, "Mr. A directly handed over the money envelope and did not get it back." However, Representative Jeong has claimed that he returned the envelope immediately without checking its contents at a location out of the CCTV's view, asserting that this was a smear campaign aimed at the general election.

Regarding this, Secretary-General Jang Dong-hyuk explained in an additional briefing, "We have already judged that the CCTV-related issue has been resolved. As for the additional issue of the 1 million won, there was no evidence found that the box contained 1 million won. Since it was a customary gift fruit box given during the holidays, there is no way to know whether Deputy Speaker Jeong actually received it," explaining the reason for dismissal.

Jung Young-hwan, Chairman of the People Power Party's Nomination Management Committee.
Photo by Yonhap News

In addition, the Nomination Management Committee stated regarding various other objections received, "A considerable number of them were found to be baseless allegations or dissemination of false information aimed at tarnishing candidates from the same party."

Chairman Jeong pointed out, "In particular, there were some cases where losing candidates in the nomination competition continued to raise baseless allegations. This clearly constitutes an act against the People Power Party."

He added, "If similar cases recur, the Nomination Management Committee will consider strong measures such as referring the matter to the party ethics committee."

Chairman Jeong also commented on the search and seizure by the Election Commission related to Representative Kim Hyung-dong's alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act (operating a call center outside the election office), saying, "We are checking the facts through the party audit office, and depending on the explanations provided, we expect to reach a conclusion sometime next week."