"The Moment Criticizing Yoon's Overseas Trip Expenses, the Conservative Mass Exodus Begins"
"Common sense dictates that we should imagine whether First Lady Kim Jung-sook or President Yoon Seok-yeol ate more."
Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party, commented on the People Power Party's offensive against former President Moon Jae-in's spouse Kim Jung-sook's visit to India and the allegations of luxurious in-flight meals, stating, "For this to become an issue, the cost of First Lady Kim Jung-sook's private plane must be significantly higher than that of President Yoon Seok-yeol's private plane."
On the 10th, Lee appeared on Channel A's YouTube channel 'Radio Show Political Signal' and said, "The moment you criticize that (the cost of the trip), I think a massive exodus from the conservative camp will begin," arguing that if suspicions arise regarding President Yoon's trip expenses, it could backfire on the People Power Party.
Lee said, "For example, there are additional costs like meal expenses. Naturally, when there are many people, expensive alcoholic beverages might be included," adding, "Then it could be troublesome to see who drinks more alcohol. I have never heard that First Lady Kim Jung-sook enjoys alcoholic beverages much."
He also questioned, "We need to examine whether the 60 million won in in-flight meal costs entrusted to Korean Air is excessive. Common sense tells us, would Korean Air really intend to swindle the South Korean government?" He continued, "If not, then it would mean Korean Air colluded with the Moon Jae-in administration, but the conservative camp is bypassing all that and going straight to saying that First Lady Kim Jung-sook ate too much and is gluttonous," criticizing, "With claims at this level, who can they possibly attack?"
In particular, Lee referred to 'Danurim Construction,' which was awarded a private contract during the remodeling of the presidential office building in June 2022, arguing that investigating the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's private contracts would likely cause more controversy than the First Lady's in-flight meal private contract. Lee said, "In a situation where the National Assembly is overwhelmingly controlled by the opposition, if they try to harm First Lady Kim Jung-sook even by 1, and then the opposition digs into all of Yoon Seok-yeol government's private contracts, the administration could collapse," and criticized, "Why engage in such a foolish charge that causes President Yoon to suffer 100 damage?"
On the 8th, Lee also posted on his social media, stating, "Those who find Korean Air's private contract for in-flight meals suspicious should also find it suspicious that 'Danurim Construction' was awarded a private contract for the presidential office construction," and urged, "Let's expose all private contracts for in-flight meals, the presidential office, and the official residence construction."
Earlier, Bae Hyun-jin, a member of the People Power Party, launched an offensive citing that during Kim Jung-sook's visit to India in 2018, the private contract with Korean Air (worth 236.7 million won) included 62.92 million won for in-flight meals, calling it 'luxurious in-flight meals' and an 'extravagant trip.' In response, key figures from the Moon administration on the 7th released the invitation letter from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to First Lady Kim, drawing a line against the 'self-invitation' controversy. They also disclosed detailed in-flight meal costs, countering that "the actual meal cost for the First Lady was 1.05 million won, which accounts for 4.8% of the total in-flight meal cost."
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