Democratic Party Releases Second Transcript of Myung Tae-gyun... "Gifts to Mrs. Kim Geon-hee from Kim Young-sun and Park Wan-soo"

Contains Remarks on the Purpose of Involvement in Candidate Nomination

On the 31st, the Democratic Party of Korea released additional recorded transcripts from Mr. Myeong Tae-gyun regarding allegations of First Lady Kim Geon-hee's interference in candidate nominations. The transcripts contained statements suggesting that both Mr. Myeong and the First Lady were involved in the nominations of former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun and Gyeongnam Governor Park Wan-su.

The second recording file titled "The First Lady's Gifts, etc." is a conversation Mr. Myeong had with acquaintances around June 15, 2022. In the recording, Mr. Myeong mentioned a call with Assemblywoman Cho Eun-hee, saying, "'You placed two metropolitan governors. Kim Jin-tae, Park Wan-su exactly as you thought. You even made Cho Eun-hee, and since you made Kim Young-sun too, now our Representative Myeong is the Crown Prince of Yeongnam,'" relaying the conversation.

Notably, Mr. Myeong quoted a conversation with First Lady Kim Geon-hee, stating that "First Lady Kim said, 'Our Mr. Myeong's gifts are Kim Young-sun and Park Wan-su.'" This is interpreted to mean that Mr. Myeong requested the First Lady's help for their nominations, and she exerted influence accordingly.

The transcripts also include Mr. Myeong referring to President Yoon Suk-yeol as a "blind warrior." Mr. Myeong said, "Yoon Suk-yeol is a 'blind warrior,' and if I had met Yoon Suk-yeol first, he wouldn't have recognized me, but because I met Kim Geon-hee, and because of Kim Geon-hee, Yoon Suk-yeol became like that."

Meanwhile, Mr. Myeong stated in the recording that he did not receive any financial compensation from President Yoon and his wife regarding the opinion poll business. However, he added, "I had to sacrifice everything solely for the president and the First Lady; only then could I receive any return for that," and said, "Did I ever receive money from Kim Geon-hee or Yoon Suk-yeol? That's why I can go and ask Kim Young-sun for a nomination and talk about getting a nomination there," directly mentioning his request for nominations.