Cheon Hosun, Former Director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, Criticizes Lee Junseok's Remarks
"That Encouragement Was Given to Over a Hundred Scholarship Recipients"
Cheon Hosun, former director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, harshly criticized Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, saying, "He lies as if former President Roh Moo-hyun gave him a special word of encouragement. He is cunning." On the 25th, Cheon stated on his social networking service (SNS), "This needs to be addressed." Cheon is a prominent pro-Roh figure who served as the Senior Secretary for Public Relations at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Reform New Party presidential candidate Lee Junseok visited Bongha Village in Jinyeong-eup, Gimhae City, Gyeongnam on the 23rd to pay respects at the tomb of former President Roh Moo-hyun. Photo by Yonhap News
On the 23rd, the 16th anniversary of former President Roh's death, candidate Lee visited Bongha Village in Gimhae, Gyeongnam. In a meeting with reporters, he said, "Throughout this election, I have consistently spoken about wanting to pursue politics with conviction, like President Roh Moo-hyun." He added, "Although I have not openly discussed it before, when I was in high school, President Roh lived right next door in Hyehwa-dong. When he was elected president, I remember that people around me had high hopes for him and supported him."
At that time, he also said, "Coincidentally, when I went to study in the United States in 2003, President Roh personally handed me a scholarship certificate. I remember what he said: 'Study hard and someday you should do great things and contribute to the country.' Although it was a very typical word of encouragement, now that I am running for president 22 years later, I realize that living up to those words is not easy."
Cheon clarified regarding the scholarship certificate mentioned by Lee, stating, "'Presidential Science Scholarship' was planned during the Kim Dae-jung administration and implemented from 2003 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration. It is different from the 'Roh Moo-hyun Scholarship' currently awarded by the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation." He added, "Every year, the certificate was awarded to about a hundred or so recipients at the Blue House State Guest House, and Lee was just one of them." He criticized Lee, saying, "It makes me sick to see him lie as if President Roh gave him a special word of encouragement personally."
Cheon also brought up a past video of Lee. In the video, Lee denied being a 'Roh Moo-hyun Scholar' when asked. Lee explained, "People from the pro-Roh camp say, 'You received the Roh Moo-hyun Scholarship, but you walk a different political path.' But during President Roh's time, I received the 'Presidential Science Scholarship.' Simply put, it was a government-funded scholarship."
Recently, Lee has frequently mentioned the 'spirit of Roh Moo-hyun' during his campaign. In particular, during his opening remarks at the second presidential debate on the 23rd, he said, "Today marks the 16th anniversary of former President Roh Moo-hyun's death. He humbled himself as 'Fool Roh Moo-hyun,' but he never looked down on the people as fools." He also quoted former President Roh's words, "I object. We need to have a debate," emphasizing, "I believe President Roh's cry of 'I object' is a spirit that our society truly needs."
During the last general election, Lee also said, "I cannot compare myself to him, but former President Roh also experienced four election defeats and never lost his willingness to take on challenges in difficult constituencies. I draw a lot of courage from that."
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