Myeong Taegyun and Kim Taeyeol Talk: "In the Last Election, Choo Kyung-ho Took 20 Seats"
The Democratic Party of Korea disclosed a recording of "political broker" Myeong Tae-gyun claiming that Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, received 2 billion won related to the 2018 local election nominations. Floor leader Choo denied the claim, calling it "fake news."
Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min
On the 3rd, the Democratic Party released a recording of conversations between Myeong and several acquaintances, including a phone call Myeong had with Kim Tae-yeol, former director of the Future Korea Research Institute. The recording dates back to early March 2022, just before the 20th presidential election.
According to the recording, former director Kim said, "(Former Daegu City Council member Jo Seong-je) explained that Choo Kyung-ho took 20 (units) in the last election." Myeong responded, "He took some himself, so why can't he take the rest?" and asked, "Tell Jo to ask for 40. Are you going to give 20 to Choo Kyung-ho and settle with 20?" Former director Kim replied, "This time, (Myeong) should go and make a firm deal, and instead of cash, throw 10 in checks." Afterwards, Myeong said, "Then 30 would be enough."
The Democratic Party explained that former director Kim reported this to Myeong right after meeting with a person from former council member Jo’s side, who was preparing to run for the Daalseong County mayor position in floor leader Choo’s constituency in the 2022 local elections. The Democratic Party claims that the "20" mentioned in the conversation refers to 2 billion won and alleges that floor leader Choo received money related to the 2018 local election nominations. At that time, former council member Jo was nominated as the Liberty Korea Party candidate for Daalseong County mayor in 2018 but lost to an independent candidate.
Additionally, the Democratic Party claims that former council member Jo offered 1 billion won as hush money to floor leader Choo and proposed 2 billion won in election funds to Myeong. In the 2022 local elections, former council member Jo was defeated by Choi Jae-hoon for the Daalseong County mayor nomination in the primary.
Floor leader Choo denied the allegations as false. After concluding a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, he told reporters, "This is absurd, baseless fake news," and added, "I only recently learned of Myeong through the news as he became an issue." Regarding the 2 billion won increase in his reported assets over a short period, he explained, "Thanks to the Moon Jae-in administration’s surge in housing prices, the official land prices were adjusted upward," and "I provided evidence of taxes paid to the National Tax Service on gifts received from elders, which was fully explained during the hearing."
He further stated, "Mr. A (former council member Jo) was a city council member at the time, and he is the only person I know by name; I have no knowledge of the others," and warned, "The news itself is nonsense, fake, and if reported without verification or reproduced and amplified, we will take legal action for defamation and other matters."
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