Song Eonseok: "Kim Minseok-Kim Gyeong Connection Must Be Clarified... Calls for Police Investigation and Election Commission Inquiry"

Song Eonseok, floor leader of the People Power Party, stated on October 4 that, regarding the Democratic Party's alleged mobilization of religious groups for primaries, "Prime Minister Kim Minseok, who has remained silent on this issue from the beginning, must step forward and clarify his position."

Song Eonseok, floor leader of the People Power Party. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On his Facebook page that day, Floor Leader Song said, "Prime Minister Kim must clearly state whether he met with City Councilor Kim Gyeong, and if so, why they met and what they discussed." He added, "I urge a thorough police investigation and an election commission inquiry into the connection between Prime Minister Kim and Councilor Kim, as well as the suspicions of Prime Minister Kim's pre-election campaigning."

Floor Leader Song also referenced the newly released recording of Councilor Kim Gyeong, which was reported by some media outlets the previous day, saying, "The recording reconfirms that there was indeed a discussion about large-scale party membership enrollment," and emphasized, "Suspicions are growing that a large-scale Democratic Party membership drive was carried out for Prime Minister Kim."

He explained, "In the recording, when the other party says, 'Next week, I can bring you 2,000 people,' Councilor Kim responds, 'That's huge,' and adds, 'Give me as many as you have first. We have to process them by hand.'" He pointed out, "This clearly shows that they intended to handwrite more than 2,000 party membership applications to make it appear as though the enrollments were voluntary." He continued, "Councilor Kim's explanation that he 'only provided guidance on the party membership process' has been proven to be a blatant lie. What's clear is that Councilor Kim likely did not request large-scale party membership enrollment only from the vice president of the Shooting Federation. It is suspected that he requested organized mobilization for party membership enrollment from multiple people."

Previously, Jin Jongoh, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, raised the suspicion that Councilor Kim Gyeong mobilized religious groups for the primaries, stating, "When the informant asked about the purpose, the councilor bluntly said it was to support Prime Minister Kim." Councilor Kim has denied the allegations, claiming they were fabricated, and has since left the Democratic Party.