Lee Jun-seok Defends Kim Geon-hee?
"Likely Spoke Out Thinking It Corresponds to Old-Style Politics and Political Manipulation"
As the controversy over First Lady Kim Geon-hee's alleged interference in candidate nominations involving President Yoon Suk-yeol spreads to the Reform New Party, Cho Eung-cheon, the party's chief special advisor, explained the situation during the so-called Chilbulsa meeting.
Jo Eung-cheon, Chief Special Advisor of the Reform New Party, is talking with Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
On the 23rd, Cho appeared on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' and said, "At that time, Representative Kim Jong-min of the New Future Party left (the Reform New Party), reducing the number of incumbent lawmakers from five to four," adding, "We could not receive a unified national symbol, candidates could not participate in debates, and government subsidies were significantly reduced."
He continued, "We thought we needed to recruit one more lawmaker, so we reached out to people from the People Power Party or the Democratic Party who were likely to lose their nominations or had confirmed losses, and who fit the Reform New Party's image, such as former Democratic Party lawmaker Oh Young-hwan or former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Woong," adding, "However, they strongly intended not to run and politely declined. Still, we had a principle not to accept just anyone into the Reform New Party."
Earlier, media outlets including News Tomato reported that on February 29, at Chilbulsa Temple in Jirisan, Reform New Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok and others met with former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun to discuss exposing First Lady Kim's interference in the general election candidate nominations, based on proportional representation nominations.
Cho said, "While we appreciated former lawmaker Kim Young-sun wanting to join our party, it was not acceptable for him to request a proportional representation seat, unlike a constituency seat," adding, "Also, since the party's name includes 'Reform,' we thought that exposing and capitalizing on another party's nomination process did not fit the Reform New Party's concept."
Regarding some who defended Representative Lee by saying, "He saw First Lady Kim's Telegram messages and it could be well-intentioned advice," Cho interpreted, "I don't know well, but I think he made such remarks because it could be considered old-fashioned politics and political manipulation."
He evaluated the prosecution's unusual request for a two-year prison sentence for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, who was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act. He said, "I've never seen a prison sentence requested in an election law violation case before," adding, "Prison sentences are usually requested only in cases of candidate bribery or money distribution." He further explained, "I think they judged the act itself was not light. Also, the continuous denials afterward, the attitude shown in court, the Democratic Party's solidarity, shielding, and intimidation of the judiciary were likely reflected in the sentence request."
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