"Mrs. Kim, Kim Young-sun's Nomination Interference" Kang Hye-kyung's Claim... Lee Jun-seok Calls It "Comedy Even to Mention"

Kang Hye-kyung Makes Resolute Remarks as Witness at National Audit
Allegations Raised That Kim Geon-hee Intervened in Nomination Process

Lee Jun-seok, a reformist party member and former leader of the People Power Party, and Yoon Sang-hyun, then chairman of the nomination committee, dismissed claims that they designated certain areas as strategic nomination regions and that First Lady Kim Geon-hee gave a nomination to former lawmaker Kim Young-sun as "comedy." On the 22nd, Lee stated on his Facebook, "It is comedic even to mention that the strategic nomination areas were decided by Representative Lee Jun-seok and Nomination Committee Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun, as it is originally the role of the nomination committee or the Supreme Council," adding, "Sensationally claiming this as a problem is like saying there is an issue because a pilot landed the plane."

Lee Jun-seok, Member of the Reform New Party Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding the claim that strategic nomination areas were designated, Lee explained, "The nomination committee was formed on May 2nd, delayed by local election nominations, and the candidate registration day was May 12th," adding, "Considering the safe number extraction period of 5 to 10 days, there was almost no time for primaries, so except in very unavoidable cases, it was decided to proceed with strategic nominations." He further noted, "In fact, five strong constituencies and Gyeyang, where the opponent of candidate Lee Jae-myung was chosen, were all strategic nomination areas, and only Jeju, a weak area, prepared for primaries in advance."

Regarding the recording in which Myung Tae-gyun reportedly told Kang Hye-kyung that "Representative Lee Jun-seok asked for a favorable poll for former lawmaker Kim," Lee said, "It is basic in nominations to convey if there is a poll where candidate Kim Young-sun is winning," adding, "What is usually called strategic nomination refers to single or priority recommendations, but according to Article 27, Paragraph 2 of the People Power Party regulations, decisions are made by comprehensively considering poll results." He also emphasized, "Current lawmaker Kim Jong-yang, who competed with candidate Kim Young-sun at the time, testified that there were no problems in the nomination process." He concluded, "These details are secondhand accounts from Kang Hye-kyung, who heard from President Myung Tae-gyun, so there is no need to sensationally combine fragments of the nomination process."

Kang Hye-kyung: "Kim Young-sun's Nomination Was Given by First Lady Kim Geon-hee"

Earlier, Kang Hye-kyung, a whistleblower on allegations of First Lady Kim's interference in nominations and illegal polling by political broker Myung Tae-gyun, appeared as a witness at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's National Police Agency inspection. Kang alleged that during the last presidential election, Myung conducted "illegal polls" for President Yoon in exchange for former lawmaker Kim Young-sun receiving the nomination for the June 2022 by-election, and that First Lady Kim intervened in the nomination process.

Kang Hye-kyung, who raised allegations of Kim Geon-hee's interference in candidate selection, is appearing as a witness at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's inspection of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held on the 21st.
[Photo by Kim Hyun-min, Asia Economy]

At the hearing, Kang stated, "At that time, Representative Lee Jun-seok and Nomination Committee Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun joined forces to designate Changwon Uichang-gu as a strategic nomination area, and First Lady Kim gave the nomination to former lawmaker Kim." She also claimed that the reason Kim paid the so-called "half-and-half salary" to Myung was "because he contributed to the nomination process. A total of 96 million won was paid."

Furthermore, Kang alleged that Myung manipulated poll results to favor President Yoon, saying, "I heard that President Yoon was also pleased (after receiving poll results from Myung)." She previously worked as deputy director of the polling firm Mirae Korea Research Institute, reportedly operated by Myung, served as accounting manager and aide to former lawmaker Kim, and is currently under investigation, having been accused by Kim of fraud and embezzlement.