Immediate Q&A with Gwangju Citizens on Fake News Surrounding Lee Nak-yeon
Lee Nak-yeon, the Saeroun Mirae candidate for the National Assembly representing Gwangsan-gu (Eul), Gwangju Metropolitan City, participated in a unique dialogue session in the form of a hearing with citizens regarding various allegations surrounding him.
According to Lee Nak-yeon's election campaign on the 31st, since entering the Democratic Party's presidential primary in 2021, he has been plagued by various fake news originating from several YouTube channels. Various fake news such as the 'responsibility theory for presidential election defeat,' 'support for Yoon Seok-yeol,' 'praise for Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan,' 'rumors related to former Minister Cho Kuk,' and '2 trillion won in assets' have been raised. He has personally clarified these in multiple interviews and has taken legal action.
The event was held as a live interview titled "Gwangju Questions Lee Nak-yeon," hosted by the YouTube channel "Back Briefing." The session was conducted by Baek Gwang-hyun of the Back Briefing channel, with Shin Kyung-min, Saeroun Mirae's election committee chairman, political commentator Oh Seung-yong, and about 200 Gwangju citizens participating in the Q&A.
First, Lee responded to rumors about owning assets worth 2 to 3 trillion won.
Lee said, "My assets are probably about 2 billion won. Apart from the salary I received while in public office, I have never earned money through any other means," adding, "I have never invested in stocks and only had fixed deposits, which my wife mainly managed, so I don't know much about it."
He continued, "If anyone finds my assets worth 2 to 3 trillion won, I would give them everything except 300,000 won," lightening the atmosphere.
Regarding the reason for running for the National Assembly, he explained, "I am not running to serve as a member of the National Assembly once more. Having served in public office for a long time and benefited from the state, I could not stand by as the Yoon Seok-yeol government regresses, plunging South Korea into crisis and corrupting politics," adding, "Currently, among the democratic forces, except for me, all those holding party leadership positions such as Lee Jae-myung, Cho Kuk, and Song Young-gil face judicial risks. I believe that someone without legal issues must step forward to judge the Yoon Seok-yeol government and revive hope for regime change."
As expected in a hearing-style live interview, sharp questions followed. One was about the rumor that he was the cause of the presidential election defeat.
Lee Nak-yeon said, "I worked harder than anyone else to prevent Yoon Seok-yeol's election and to help candidate Lee Jae-myung become president. After the primary, the presidential campaign and candidate only asked me to serve as an 'advisor to the campaign committee,'" recalling, "Then in February, when the candidate's wife's corporate card incident broke out, candidate Lee Jae-myung personally contacted me and requested, 'Please oversee everything.'"
He added, "After becoming the general campaign committee chairman, I attended every appointment ceremony and traveled over 400 km a day at times, campaigning nationwide. I campaigned more than the candidate and even wrote speeches for broadcasts," and questioned, "Yet, they blame me for the defeat. Would it make sense to say a team lost because of the cheerleader when the player lost the game?"
The host also asked about rumors that Lee Nak-yeon orchestrated the Daejang-dong incident and the Cho Kuk scandal.
Lee explained, "The Daejang-dong incident was already a widely spread rumor among residents of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province," adding, "One victim of the Daejang-dong incident reported it to candidate Nam Pyeong-o, who is now running in Gangseo, Seoul, and Nam verified the credibility of the report and passed it on to reporters."
He continued, "The rumor that I manipulated the Cho Kuk scandal is absurd and obviously untrue. When I was a member of the National Assembly for Jongno-gu, I once met former Dongyang University President Choi Sung-hae while visiting local figures and shook hands. At that time, I was surprised to hear his name and reacted, 'Oh, you are a supporter of Cho Kuk?'" He explained, "However, this was distorted to mean 'Lee Nak-yeon attacked Cho Kuk.' Later, Mr. Choi clarified that he exaggerated his meeting with me to his nephew to appear influential."
Regarding the criticism that he defended Chun Doo-hwan and was not critical of Yoon Seok-yeol, Lee calmly expressed his thoughts.
Lee Nak-yeon said, "In 1983, the Democratic Justice Party's Gyeongnam Hapcheon district party reorganization meeting was held in Hapcheon, where Kwon Ik-hyun, then secretary-general of the Minjung Party, gave a congratulatory speech flattering Chun Doo-hwan. At that time, military regime 'press guidelines' were severe, and there were no progressive media like Hankyoreh or Kyunghyang Shinmun," emphasizing, "Only the Dong-A Ilbo functioned as a progressive, resistance media. Reporters resisted censorship in various ways, and articles that subtly criticized while reporting facts were called 'gossip articles.'"
He added, "I also wrote an article quoting Kwon Ik-hyun's speech verbatim to avoid press guidelines and convey his flattery. But at some point, this was twisted into fake news that I defended Chun Doo-hwan."
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