"We Will Thoroughly Investigate Corruption Related to 'Wave Park'"
Targeting Lee: "If He Doesn't Know, It's Incompetence; If He Knows, It's Shamelessness"
The People Power Party announced on May 26 that it would form a "Special Committee for Fact-Finding on the Turtle Island Corruption Allegations" in connection with Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung's creation of the artificial surfing facility "Wave Park" on Turtle Island in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province during his tenure as governor.
Shin Dongwook, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, spoke to reporters after a campaign committee meeting at the National Assembly that day, saying, "Currently, the vacancy rate for commercial properties is close to 90%, essentially turning the area into a ghost town. We cannot help but be outraged that Candidate Lee irresponsibly laughed and said, 'I don't know if business is doing well.' We will form a Turtle Island fact-finding committee to thoroughly investigate whether any corruption took place."
Shin further emphasized, "Given the corruption scandals in Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong and the Seongnam FC issue during Lee's time as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi Province, there is a high possibility that corruption is also deeply embedded in the development of Turtle Island."
He added, "Although he claims to understand ordinary people and the real economy, anyone can see the current state of Turtle Island with a simple online search. We are angered that Candidate Lee boasts about his achievements with jokes, despite the pain inflicted on ordinary citizens."
Previously, on May 24, during a street campaign in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, Candidate Lee said, "There is a place called Wave Park on (Siheung) Turtle Island. I told the companies looking to build an artificial surfing facility to come to Turtle Island in Gyeonggi Province, promising that we would take care of everything. As a result, it took only about two years to complete the permits and construction, and it was finished quickly. Lee Jaemyung's Gyeonggi Province and the Democratic Party's Siheung City swiftly attracted a major company in this way."
In response, the People Power Party launched an offensive, saying, "There is nothing but rumors no matter how deep you dig." Kim Yongtae, a member of the party’s emergency response committee, criticized at the campaign committee meeting, "While Candidate Lee boasts about Wave Park as an achievement, he ignores the tragedy of Turtle Island, where the commercial vacancy rate is 87%. His politics lack reflection, responsibility, and truth."
Na Kyungwon, co-chair of the People Power Party's campaign committee, added, "The more you dig, the more incompetence and rumors you find with Candidate Lee. Although he claims that Wave Park was completed quickly in two years, not only did Wave Park completely fail, but the surrounding Turtle Island commercial district also failed to revive at all."
She continued, "The vacancy rate in the Turtle Island commercial district has reached 87%, turning it into a ghost market, and both officetels and hotels have completely failed. If he boasts about this as his achievement without knowing the reality, it is incompetence and irresponsibility; if he knows and still boasts, it is shamelessness."
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