Citing Anecdotes from Lee’s Blog
Criticizing Verbal Abuse Toward His Brother’s Family and Nominating Anti-Lee Lawmakers
On Pledges to Downsize the Prosecution and Expand the CIO
Kwon: "A Build-Up for Political Retaliation"
Kwon Seongdong, floor leader of the People Power Party, claimed on April 17 that former Democratic Party leader Lee Jaemyung’s entire life has been about revenge, and that he was a “prodigy of retaliation” with outstanding abilities for payback since childhood, in response to Lee’s recent statement that “I have never once retaliated against anyone who wronged me in my life.”
At the emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, Floor Leader Kwon addressed Lee’s YouTube remark that he has “never taken revenge,” saying, “As always, this is yet another lie. I would like to study the worldview of someone who can lie so nonchalantly, without batting an eye.”
Kwon cited several anecdotes Lee had written on his blog in 2006. He pointed out, “On his blog in 2006, he wrote that when he was a boy laborer, he ‘grabbed a female coworker by the hair and taught her a lesson’ because she lied about her age,” and added, “He also admitted to throwing a lunch tray at a colleague who seemed weak, saying that such misdeeds helped him secure a certain position in the factory.”
He continued, “Lee Jaemyung’s instinct for retaliation as a boy laborer continued even after he entered politics. The unspeakable wrongdoing he committed against his own brother and sister-in-law during his time as mayor of Seongnam-if that’s not revenge, what is?” He went on, “In September 2023, after his arrest motion was passed, he nominated anti-Lee lawmakers for constituencies where they were likely to lose, simply based on a suspicion that some Democratic Party lawmakers had colluded with prosecutors. That was not only political retribution but also a purge.”
Regarding the recent comment by Yoo Donggyu, former head of planning at Seongnam Development Corporation, who said at Hong Joonpyo’s mayoral campaign launch that “if Lee Jaemyung is elected, I’ll become crab food right away,” Kwon stated, “Even colleagues who once worked with him fear Lee’s retaliation.” He added, “Moreover, Lee has pledged to dismantle the prosecution office and split it into a prosecution office and an investigative office. The very promise is a warning of revenge, to tear apart the prosecution that investigated him.”
Kwon also criticized Lee’s pledge to greatly expand the powers of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), saying, “As we saw in the last presidential investigation, the CIO acted as little more than a legal fixer for the Democratic Party, lacking both authority and competence. The very idea of strengthening such an office is nothing more than a build-up for large-scale political retaliation.”
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