"President Yoon Must Clearly State His Position"
As the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has released additional recordings related to Mr. Myeong Taegyun, intensifying the controversy, Park Seongjun, the DPK's senior deputy floor leader, emphasized, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration has consistently lied to cover up problems," adding, "Now is the time for President Yoon Seok-yeol to speak truthfully to the people."
On the 4th, Park, speaking on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' said, "Until now, the presidential office claimed that Mr. Myeong was a braggart and a fraud," and continued, "But when Mr. Myeong revealed specific facts about his relationship with President Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon-hee, the presidential office began to backtrack." He further pointed out, "The problem is that the Yoon Seok-yeol administration does not walk the right path while dealing with issues, ignoring the people."
He stated, "It has been revealed that the president intervened in the candidate selection process, which led to the confirmation of the candidacy," and added, "If Mr. Myeong, who was previously unknown, exerted that level of influence over the candidate selection, the presidential office or President Yoon must clearly state their position."
Regarding the ruling party's criticism that the DPK's release of Mr. Myeong's recordings is a political maneuver ahead of Representative Lee Jae-myung's sentencing, Park dismissed it as "truly desperate." He argued, "What does the people's demand for a special investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee have to do with Representative Lee?" and claimed, "The people are angry that President Yoon is shielding First Lady Kim."
The previous day, the DPK additionally released a recording presumed to be from a conversation around June 2022, after President Yoon's inauguration, in which Mr. Myeong is heard telling acquaintances that he "still communicates with the president." In the recording, Mr. Myeong tells an acquaintance, "I still talk on the phone with the president." He also mentioned that former lawmaker Kim Young-seon, who was suspected of receiving candidacy through his help and was elected in the by-election for Changwon Changyi district in Gyeongnam at the time, was told by the president, "Thank you for your hard work and congratulations," even in the morning.
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