The suspicion of the 'Han Dong-hoon comment team,' triggered by the controversy over 'ignoring Mrs. Kim Geon-hee's text messages,' is spreading. Former Supreme Council member Jang Ye-chan raised allegations that Han Dong-hoon, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, operated a so-called 'comment team' during his tenure as Minister of Justice. Following this, Jang claimed that he was instructed by Han to respond to Lee Jun-seok, causing the controversy to escalate rapidly.
Former Supreme Council member Jang revealed that Han operated a public opinion formation team while serving as Minister of Justice and disclosed four related text messages. According to the messages Jang shared on his Facebook, they included ▲May 16, 2023: sharing materials for attacking the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy ▲June 2, 2023: sharing promotional YouTube Shorts of Minister Han Dong-hoon ▲July 29, 2023: taking action on community YouTube channels related to Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ju-min's protest at Suwon District Prosecutors' Office concerning the investigation of Lee Hwa-young ▲November 6, 2023: suggesting that Han Dong-hoon be placed 10th on the proportional representation list rather than a specific district to enable nationwide campaigning.
On the morning of May 18, 2022, Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice, who attended the 42nd anniversary ceremony of the May 18 Democratic Movement held at the Gwangju National May 18 National Cemetery, arrived at the Ministry of Justice building within the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do, that afternoon. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
Former Supreme Council member Jang also claimed that he received a request from Han to 'fight against Lee Jun-seok.' In January, Lee Jun-seok, a lawmaker from the Reform New Party, raised suspicions of staging regarding a photo of Han holding a 'Dunkin' Donuts coffee' on his first day as Minister of Justice. Jang stated that he was asked to attack Lee.
Jang said, "I am only speaking the truth, so I am confident," and added, "If those who could frequently make such requests to me, who was then a ruling party Supreme Council member, have no problem being fully revealed, I urge them to take direct legal action instead of having uninformed people do it."
In addition, Lee Jun-seok of the Reform New Party also suggested the possibility of a 'comment team' being operated. On the 12th, during CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' Lee said, "While the ruling party did not operate a party-level comment team during my time as People Power Party leader, I do not know how the candidate's side managed the public opinion formation team. There were some suspicious circumstances."
Lee continued, "At one point, someone said to me, 'Leader, shouldn't we use the people who were with us during the presidential election?' I was so surprised that I asked, 'What do you mean from the presidential election?' Then that person realized the mistake and fell silent," he added.
Meanwhile, Han's campaign team dismissed the comment team allegations as 'smear campaigns' and hinted at possible legal action.
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