Democratic Party Files Complaint Against Rep. Park Jeong-hoon Over 'Lee Jae-myung Recording Release'

Defamation and Official Secrets Leakage Charges Filed Against Park
Ruling Party's Park Jeong-hoon Claims "Lee Jae-myung Instructed Perjury"

The Democratic Party of Korea filed a complaint against Park Jeong-hoon, a member of the People Power Party, on charges of defamation and disclosure of official secrets. They claimed that the 'Lee Jae-myung representative's transcript' released by Park was maliciously edited and manipulated.

The Democratic Party's 'Special Countermeasure Team for Political Prosecution and Case Fabrication' submitted the complaint against Park Jeong-hoon to the Seoul Seodaemun-gu Police Agency headquarters at 10 a.m. on the 20th. The team leader, Assemblyman Min Hyung-bae, along with Assemblymen Joo Cheol-hyun, Kim Ki-pyo, Kim Moon-soo, Kim Dong-ah, and Han Min-su, visited the police station together. Park Gyun-taek, the secretary of the special countermeasure team, who was absent due to parliamentary schedule, stated in a phone interview with this outlet, "(Park) uploaded the transcript so that the public could listen to it directly, which is rather appreciated," but added, "However, there is illegality in the transcript splicing and the source of acquisition."

On the 14th of last month, the Democratic Party's Special Task Force on Political Prosecution and Case Fabrication shouted slogans before moving to protest at the Ministry of Justice, claiming the fabrication of statements and concealment of truth by Representative Lee Jae-myung in front of the Civil Service Office at the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 17th, Park released a recorded file of a phone call between Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, and Kim Jin-sung (former secretary to ex-Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang). He said the transcript contained a conversation from around December 2018, edited into about four minutes from three separate calls. In the transcript, Lee said, "I will send you a summary of the argument. Since it was our claim, please try to recall it," and Kim Jin-sung responded, "It's been so long that I actually don't remember well," and "Please tell me the purpose of the testimony," Park argued based on this that "asking someone who says they don't remember to testify in this way is a clear case of perjury coaching."

The Democratic Party has criticized the transcript released by Park as "devilish editing." On the 18th, Assemblyman Park Gyun-taek held a press conference stating, "They deliberately deleted the preceding and following conversations to distort the context," and "Also, the video Park uploaded on YouTube contains intentional subtitle manipulation." On the 19th, Seo Young-kyo, a Supreme Council member, attacked at the Supreme Council meeting, calling it "devilish editing that spliced together falsehoods," and said, "They spread fabricated content outside the standing committee."

The Democratic Party's special countermeasure team finalized the decision to file a complaint against Park on the afternoon of the previous day. Team leader Min Hyung-bae said at the special countermeasure team meeting, "Park spread fake news with the spliced transcript," and "Since spreading false information is a clear crime, we will file a complaint against Park." He also fiercely criticized, "Park, who comes from a conservative cable news background, should apologize to the residents of Songpa-gu," and "He was elected to work but only spreads fake news."

Before the Democratic Party finalized the complaint decision, Park stated on his personal Facebook, "File a complaint anytime." He emphasized, "The entire party organization moving to defend the party leader's personal corruption is unprecedented in our party history," and "Lee should not hide behind the party but clearly state his position on the perjury coaching transcript."