Mention of 'Jasonsgun' During Campaign Rally in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province
Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, on the 31st described reports that a conservative-leaning group had formed a comment manipulation team called 'Jasonsgun' (an abbreviation for 'Jayu Songarak Gundae', or 'Free Finger Army to Save the Country through Comments') to manipulate public opinion as "an act of rebellion aimed at sabotaging the election results."
Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is greeting citizens during a campaign rally held on the last weekend three days before the election, on the 31st, at Baedari Ecological Park in Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Province, covering Pyeongtaek, Osan, and Anseong cities. Photo by Yonhap News
On this day, which was the last weekend three days before the election, Lee visited Baedari Ecological Park in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, for an intensive campaign rally. Referring to the comment manipulation allegations raised by Newstapa the previous day, he began by saying, "Have you heard of 'Lee Park School'? It is an attempt to manipulate public opinion and overturn the election."
Lee continued, "I made a reasonable assumption that 'Lee' stands for the first letter of Syngman Rhee, and 'Park' for the first letter of Park Chung Hee," and raised his voice, saying, "How can such acts of manipulating comments, spreading fake news, and systematically preparing to sabotage the election results take place in this day and age?"
He went on to say, "What is even more serious is the very high likelihood of a connection to the People Power Party," and added, "If we dig a little deeper, we may uncover serious criminal acts that could overturn the country."
He further stated, "We must identify and hold accountable every last root of this," and revealed, "I am considering establishing a system that would offer groundbreaking rewards and compensation for those who report this criminal activity or acts of corruption."
Earlier, the Democratic Party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee Rapid Response Team held a press conference at the party headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and announced that "this case is similar in form to the 2012 National Intelligence Service comment manipulation incident," and that they would file a complaint against those involved for a full investigation.
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