"About 20% Disclosed to the Media"
"Yoon Confirms and Orders Regarding Nomination"
There has been a claim that there is an undisclosed recorded conversation between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Myung Tae-kyun, a key figure suspected of interfering in candidate nominations, on Myung's mobile phone.
Nam Seong-gwon, Myung's lawyer, appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 16th and stated, "The 'golden phone' contains conversations between Myung and President Yoon," adding, "There are parts missing from the content already released to the media." The golden phone is the mobile phone Myung used from September 2019 to November last year, during which the 2022 presidential and local elections, as well as the by-election in Uichang District, Changwon City, Gyeongnam, where former lawmaker Kim Young-sun was elected, took place. Myung's side submitted three previously used mobile phones and one USB storage device to the prosecution on the 12th.
Myeong Taegyun, a person involved in allegations of interference in candidate selection by President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife. Photo by Yonhap News
Lawyer Nam said, "About 20% of the content has been disclosed to the media so far, and the omitted content is very significant." Earlier, on October 31, the Democratic Party of Korea released a recorded phone conversation in which President Yoon told Myung, "The nomination committee brought it to me, so I said, 'Kim Young-sun has been working hard since the primary, so please give it to Kim Young-sun,' but there is a lot of talk within the party," to which Myung replied, "I will never forget this lifelong favor. Thank you." The recording is said to have been made on May 9, 2022, the day before President Yoon's inauguration.
Regarding this, Lawyer Nam explained, "President Yoon said something to the effect that 'the party is noisy.' After that, Myung said, 'I will never forget this favor for life.' There is content missing in between. You can understand that it includes President Yoon saying, 'I will check and give instructions again regarding that part (the nomination).'"
Furthermore, when asked by the host whether the person receiving the instructions was named, he replied, "A real name is mentioned. (Then nomination committee chairman) Yoon Sang-hyun." When asked if President Yoon specifically mentioned contacting Nomination Committee Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun to give the nomination to former lawmaker Kim, he said, "Yes," adding, "There is also content indicating that 'Yunhaekgwan (President Yoon's key associates)' do not oppose this." However, on the same day, Representative Yoon reportedly refuted the claim to reporters, saying, "President Yoon has already said several times that he never talked about or gave instructions regarding nominations."
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