Yoon Sang-hyun "Kim Young-sun Strategically Nominated According to Various Criteria"
Kwon Seong-dong "A Completely Different Case from President Park Geun-hye"
During the June 2022 by-elections, Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, who served as the People Power Party's nomination management committee chairman, denied allegations that he brought nomination management committee materials to then President-elect Yoon and reported to him, calling it "something that doesn't make sense logically."
On the morning of the 31st, after attending a meeting of senior lawmakers at the National Assembly, Rep. Yoon told reporters, "It is impossible for the nomination management committee to bring those materials to the President-elect and report to him," expressing his stance.
The Democratic Party of Korea released a recording on the same morning, purportedly of a phone call between President Yoon and Mr. Myung Tae-gyun on May 9, 2022, discussing the nomination of Rep. Kim Young-sun.
In the recording, President Yoon says, "The nomination committee brought it to me, and since Kim Young-sun worked hard from the primary, I told them to give it to Kim Young-sun, but there’s a lot of talk about it within the party." Mr. Myung replies, "I will never forget this lifelong favor. Thank you." The audio appears to be a file that Mr. Myung played to a third party, who then re-recorded it.
Following this report, the presidential office denied the allegations of interference in the nomination process through a press release, stating, "At the time, President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol neither received reports related to nominations from the nomination management committee nor gave any instructions regarding nominations," and added, "The decision-makers for nominations at that time were Party Leader Lee Jun-seok and Nomination Management Committee Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun," thereby shifting responsibility.
Rep. Yoon dismissed the claim, saying, "The very statement that the nomination committee brought the materials is untenable. There are 11 members on the nomination committee, including myself, so why would they bring it?" He added, "Even the idea that a nomination committee member brought the nomination documents to President Yoon is something that doesn’t make sense logically."
When asked if he had ever consulted with President Yoon or First Lady Kim Keon-hee, he denied it, saying, "There is absolutely no reason for First Lady Kim to discuss this," and "President Yoon has never given me such instructions."
Rep. Kwon Seong-dong, classified as an original pro-Yoon (pro-Yoon Seok-yeol) faction member, argued, "Since the conversation took place before President Yoon’s inauguration, it does not constitute grounds for impeachment." He believes the cases of former President Park Geun-hye, who was convicted of interfering in nominations, and President Yoon are different.
Rep. Kwon said, "That case (former President Park’s nomination interference) involved the Blue House conducting public opinion polls related to the general election and delivering the poll results to the party, as well as sending primary election lists to place pro-Park politicians in specific regions," adding, "Therefore, under the current Public Official Election Act, public officials are prohibited from planning elections, conducting election-related opinion polls, or publicizing them."
Regarding the conversation between President Yoon and Mr. Myung, he said, "Mr. Myung kept requesting that part, so that’s why such words were said. In reality, there was no report received from the party regarding nominations, nor was there any expression of opinion on that matter," emphasizing, "So, there is no problem at all."
Rep. Kwon also stated that, as the number one party member and President-elect, it is natural to express political opinions as a party member, saying, "Claiming election interference or 'election involvement crimes' under the Public Official Election Act is an excessive assertion. In conclusion, this is entirely different from former President Park Geun-hye’s election interference actions," he stressed.
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