Myung, During the People Power Party Presidential Primary 'Pro-Yoon Seok-yeol Investigation'
"Yoon Administration Lacks Trust in Prosecution and Police, Special Investigation Should Be Considered"
No Jong-myeon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed on the 10th that approximately 570,000 phone numbers of party members, including delegates, were leaked to Myung Tae-gyun during the 2021 People Power Party presidential primary in which candidate Yoon Seok-yeol was selected.
In a press release on the same day, Representative No stated, "Myung, known as the actual operator of the Mirae Korea Research Institute, obtained the phone numbers of about 568,000 People Power Party delegates and members in October 2021 and conducted a public opinion poll targeting them."
He claimed to have secured a public opinion poll report stating that the Mirae Korea Research Institute made calls twice on October 19-20 and October 21 to 117,829 and 139,156 People Power Party members, respectively, receiving responses from 3,450 and 5,044 people.
Representative No pointed out, "It is shocking that the survey was conducted during the main primary period when fair management of the primary was more necessary than ever due to fierce competition among the final candidates, and that hundreds of thousands of member information were leaked to an external organization whose credibility is questionable."
According to him, the People Power Party member list used in the survey at that time included classifications of responsible members and delegates, gender, region, and mobile phone safe numbers.
Representative No emphasized, "The 570,000 leaked member information is similar in size to the responsible members of the People Power Party at that time," adding, "Since access to and use of this information is very restricted, it cannot be ruled out that a key official of the People Power Party or a specific campaign handed over the responsible member information in its entirety."
The Mirae Korea Research Institute compared the competitiveness of the final four candidates (Won Hee-ryong, Hong Joon-pyo, Yoo Seung-min, Yoon Seok-yeol) selected through the first and second rounds of the primary. A 1:1 hypothetical matchup survey was conducted between each candidate and Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, with candidate Yoon Seok-yeol showing an advantage.
Representative No stated, "It is essential to investigate whether the People Power Party central party was involved in this survey, whether a specific candidate’s campaign intervened, or if there was another background, and for what purpose the survey results were used," adding, "Appropriate follow-up measures regarding the leakage of member information and unfair primaries must follow."
He further emphasized, "If the results favorable to candidate Yoon at the time were used to spread a bandwagon effect, it could be defined as a crime that manipulated public opinion and influenced the primary results by using illegally conducted survey results."
Representative No urged, "If the People Power Party conducted this as an official survey at the party or specific campaign level, they must disclose the purpose of the survey, reasons for external commissioning in detail, and prove through contracts and receipts that it was not a free survey," adding, "If the party was unaware, it should conduct its own investigation and immediately request an investigation to uncover the truth."
He even stated, "Since the prosecution and police under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration cannot be trusted, a special prosecutor should also be considered," and added, "This matter will be addressed during the Operations Committee’s national audit."
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