Suspect Lee Jinsook: "If You're Not on the President's Side, You're a Criminal"
"Utterly Devastated... Why Isn't Minhee Choi Being Investigated?"
Lee Jinsook, former Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, who is under investigation for alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act and other charges, claimed after a police inquiry that "if you are not on the President's side, you are treated as a criminal." On the 27th, Lee underwent her third interrogation as a suspect at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul. After completing the review process around 4 p.m., she told reporters, "What I felt once again today is that in Korea right now, if you do not support the President or stand on his side, you are treated as a criminal. I was reminded once again that this is the kind of country Korea has become."
She continued, "I don't know if the police are just trying to meet a quota, but today’s session was merely a process of reconfirming what had already been discussed. I question whether today’s investigation was truly necessary." She added, "What happened to me could happen to anyone in the free Republic of Korea that we believed in. This is truly devastating."
She also questioned the legitimacy of the police investigation, saying, "Have Minhee Choi, Chairperson of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, Jeonghun Shin, Chairperson of the Public Administration and Security Committee, and Jaeseong Yoo, Acting Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, whom I reported, ever been investigated by the Yeongdeungpo Police Station?"
On the 7th, Lee Jinsuk, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, is shaking hands with Minhee Choi, Chairperson of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee at the National Assembly, during the National Assembly audit of the Korea Communications Commission. Photo by Kim Hyunmin
Lee also strongly criticized Choi Minhee, a Democratic Party lawmaker who recently faced controversy over her daughter's wedding, saying, "She is abusing her authority as Chairperson of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee." On the 25th, Lee wrote on her social media, "Since I was forcibly dismissed, I have refrained from commenting on issues related to the Korea Communications Commission or the committee, but after seeing Representative Choi’s recent remarks, I am writing to set the record straight."
She said, "Representative Choi claimed that she never sent out wedding invitations or contacted companies or audited organizations, which I found hypocritical and infuriating. Here are the facts: In early to mid-September, while I was serving as Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, a staff member told me, 'A secretary from Representative Choi’s office contacted us,' saying that there was a wedding for her daughter and that we should send a congratulatory wreath. Concerned that the commission might face retaliation if we did not send one, I instructed them to send a wreath in my name."
Lee explained that she canceled the wreath after the bill to establish the Broadcasting Media Communications Committee was introduced on the 25th of the previous month. She added, "Later, when I saw photos from the wedding, I noticed that a congratulatory wreath had been delivered under the name of the Broadcasting Media Communications Committee."
Lee further remarked, "Representative Choi is reportedly living with her husband, so I wonder how he is doing. She said she was too busy studying quantum mechanics to know the wedding date, so was her husband busy studying neutron mechanics?" She continued, "In most couples, if one is busy, the other takes care of things. In this case, were both parents so estranged from their daughter that neither could attend her wedding? If I were in her daughter’s position, I would feel very disappointed."
On the 26th, Choi Minhee, a member of the Democratic Party and Chairperson of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, who caused controversy due to her daughter's wedding during the national audit period, is seen checking Telegram messages related to congratulatory money in the National Assembly plenary session hall. Photo by Yonhap News
Previously, Representative Choi explained her absence from her daughter’s wedding during the national audit period by saying, "As a humanities major, I have been so busy studying quantum mechanics that I could hardly sleep at night, so I could not pay attention to household matters or my daughter’s wedding." However, on the 26th, Choi was photographed in the National Assembly plenary session hall checking messages about congratulatory money on her mobile phone. Choi explained that she was in the process of returning congratulatory money received from audited organizations, but the People Power Party argued that this could constitute a violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and announced plans to proceed with legal action.
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