Strong Criticism of Lee Jaemyung's Explanation on Social Media
Attempt to Shed Image as Election Fraud Theorist Backfires
Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, criticized Lee Jaemyung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 24th regarding his explanation about the election fraud theory, saying, "Why does candidate Lee Jaemyung always escalate controversies?"
On this day, through social networking services (SNS), Lee Junseok argued, "Because he thinks he shouldn't be seen as an election fraud theorist, Lee Jaemyung is once again stubbornly insisting, just like during the hotel economics incident. However, the more he does so, the more the public will see him not only as an election fraud theorist but also as shameless."
Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, is having a meal and conversation with public service exam candidates at a Korean buffet restaurant in Dongjak-gu, Seoul on the 24th. Photo by Yonhap News.
Earlier that day, Lee Jaemyung met with reporters before his campaign event in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. In response to the criticism that he had claimed the 2012 presidential election, in which former President Park Geunhye was elected, was fraudulent, he said, "It was so long ago that I don't remember exactly," and added, "As far as I recall, I mostly talked about election fraud involving manipulation of online comments by the National Intelligence Service at the time. Because of such concerns, I said that manual ballot counting would be the most reliable."
According to what Lee Junseok's camp revealed the previous day, Lee Jaemyung had previously claimed, "The last presidential election was an election fraud that surpassed the 3·15 fraudulent election. There was massive intervention by state agencies and even ballot counting fraud," and added, "We must fundamentally block ballot counting fraud through manual counting at polling stations. Many citizens suspect fraud in computerized ballot counting, and evidence to justify these suspicions is emerging."
Regarding Lee Jaemyung's explanation, Lee Junseok stated, "It would be problematic if, in the place where a tyrant who committed martial law due to conspiracy theories like the election fraud theory was ousted, another election fraud theorist and populist were to take over." However, at a meeting with reporters on the same day, Lee Junseok also said, "Some around me argued that Lee Jaemyung should be reported for violating the Public Official Election Act, but within the Reform New Party, there is a prevailing opinion that we must prevent the judicialization of politics. Therefore, we have decided not to go as far as filing a complaint against Lee Jaemyung."
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