Additional Recording of Tae-gyun Yeo: "I Worked on Joeunhee's Nomination"

Assemblywoman Joeunhee: "Not true at all... Myung Taegyun's false exaggeration"

The Democratic Party of Korea has additionally released a transcript of a recording involving the so-called political broker Myung Tae-gyun. The transcript contains content indicating that Myung intervened in the primary election process ahead of the by-election for the National Assembly seat in Seocho-gu Gap, Seoul, and helped Jo Eun-hee, then a candidate from the People Power Party.

According to the transcript released by the Democratic Party on the 28th, Myung said in a conversation with acquaintances, "Jo Eun-hee was not originally supposed to enter there (Seocho-gu Gap candidate)," and "I did all the work. So, instead of deducting a 20% penalty, I only deducted 5%." The recording was made in early March 2022, around the same time as the Seocho-gu Gap National Assembly by-election was held. It appears that Myung claimed to have intervened to reduce the primary penalty Jo would receive.

Myeong Tae-gyun, a key figure in the case involving allegations of Lady Geonhee's interference in candidate selection and the illegal opinion poll by the Future Korea Research Institute, appeared on the afternoon of the 14th at Changwon District Court (Changwon District Court) in Seongsan-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam, to undergo a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review). Myeong is currently in custody. Photo by Yonhap News.

There is also evidence of interference in the primary process. He mentioned that to secure a majority, a candidate must receive 56% in the suitability survey. Additionally, Myung said, "I sent all the messages as I instructed. I told her (Jo) that she would exceed the majority," and "After sending all the messages and conducting the survey, 48% came out. So I told her to do this and that, and she would definitely exceed the majority." In fact, Jo won a majority of votes in the by-election primary and secured the nomination.

There is also evidence that Jo mentioned compensation to Myung. Myung explained, "As soon as Jo Eun-hee was confirmed, she called me crying," and "There are two city councilor nominations in Seocho-gu Gap, and she said she would give one to a teacher. 'Recommend anyone, and I will handle it,' she said."

Regarding this, Jo stated, "This is completely untrue," and added, "Myung merely boasted about his influence to acquaintances based on false and exaggerated facts." She continued, "The Democratic Party, as the ruling party in the National Assembly, is politicizing this as if there was a huge conspiracy," and said, "The truth will be clearly revealed in the ongoing investigation. We will take additional legal action afterward."