Handonghun Suspected of Leaking Private Texts of Mrs. Kim to Pro-Yoon Faction
Nakyeongwon Criticizes Korea's Inadequate Response as Emergency Committee Chair
Won Heeryong Targets Korea, Saying "Special Investigation and Impeachment Waves Are Hard to Overcome"
After the text messages exchanged between First Lady Kim Geon-hee and then-Emergency Response Committee Chairman Han Dong-hoon were made public, the aftermath continues. Han's campaign team raised concerns about the leak route of the messages, while other candidates criticized Han for failing to properly respond to Kim's apology messages.
Han's campaign claimed that a pro-Yoon (pro-Yoon Seok-yeol) faction lawmaker disclosed the contents of the messages. Jang Dong-hyuk, a lawmaker running as a Supreme Council member candidate in the July 23 party convention and Han's running mate, said on MBC Radio on the 9th, "Party members are not particularly interested in the truthfulness of the messages, and they ask who benefits from exposing even the First Lady's private messages." He added, "I also worked as the Secretary-General, but Han never mentioned or showed me these messages."
Jang, the Supreme Council member candidate, recalled that when the messages were delivered in January, People Power Party lawmaker Lee Cheol-gyu said, "If a traffic accident occurs, the person who caused it should take responsibility. Would anyone agree if you blame the victim for being out on the street instead of at home?" At the time, Lee said, "Various undesirable incidents occurred, but asking the victim to apologize for them is not right." This reminded that Lee was aware of the message contents.
However, Lee said regarding the messages, "I don't know enough to comment," and added, "Please do not be deceived by lies amid rampant rumors in Yeouido." He also stated he would consider legal action against articles targeting him as the source of the leak of Kim's messages.
Candidate Na Kyung-won refuted Han's claim that Kim's messages were private interference or that the opposition could frame it as 'state affairs manipulation.' She argued that Kim is a public figure and a party to the incident, so it was not private interference. In an SBS Radio interview that day, Na said, "Calling it state affairs manipulation or party affairs interference is excessive wordplay," and added, "Isn't adjusting various matters for election victory an important duty of the Emergency Response Committee Chair?" She continued, "In carrying out that duty, at that time, it was an important role," and said, "Many candidates wanted to hear that. If it was not done, responsibility must be taken."
Candidate Yoon Sang-hyun also stated on Facebook that "Regardless of how the messages were disclosed, if it is true that Han did not even respond to Kim Geon-hee's five apology messages, it is not only a matter of position but also a breach of basic human courtesy," and urged, "Han Dong-hoon should clarify at which point he interpreted it as 'effectively not intending to apologize' and resolve this issue quickly."
Candidate Won Hee-ryong's camp appeared to take a step back by releasing policy messages. On the same day, Won suggested on his Facebook the consideration of introducing a hybrid work system combining three days of office work and two days of remote work, and welcomed the government's decision to withdraw administrative sanctions against medical residents who had submitted resignation letters.
However, regarding the investigation announcement by the Gyeongbuk Police Agency on the death of Corporal Chae, Won said, "With Im Seong-geun, the division commander, being cleared without indictment, the investigation pressure claimed by Park Jeong-hoon, the investigation team leader, will certainly not hold." He added, "The Democratic Party's intention to call for a 'special prosecutor without questions or investigations' is obvious. It is a pretext for impeaching President Yoon Seok-yeol." He continued, "The problem is that there are naive people within our party who have fallen into the Democratic Party's strategy," and said, "Due to lack of experience and judgment, we suffered a crushing defeat in the general election, and it is insufficient to overcome the fierce waves of special prosecution and impeachment," targeting Han with his remarks.
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