2024-03-26 06:06:30
While both the ruling and opposition parties experienced internal strife due to multiple cancellations of nominations, the ‘system nomination’ ended due to ‘poor verification’. The ruling and opposition parties, which began an internal crackdown due to the controversy over the candidate’s foul language and past behavior, now seem to be concentrating on finding additional suspicions about the opposing candidate.
According to the political circles on the 25th, the Democratic Party of Korea canceled the nomination of former candidate Lee Young-seon, Se Jong-gap, and expelled him from the party on the 23rd, after the deadline for registering candidates for the general election had passed.
Former candidate Lee owned real estate worth about 10 apartments and officetels (approximately 3.8 billion won) in his own name and his spouse’s name, but during the Democratic Party nomination process, he reported only one apartment and officetel to the party. In addition, the loan amount was revealed to be approximately 3.7 billion won, raising suspicions of ‘gap speculation’.
In Gangbuk-eul, Seoul, former candidate Jeong Bong-ju’s harsh remarks and former candidate Soo-jin Cho’s past behavior caused controversy, causing a skit in which the candidate was replaced twice. In the first primary, former candidate Jeong defeated incumbent lawmaker Park Yong-jin and was confirmed as the candidate, but the nomination was canceled due to controversy over his past remark that “we should give crutches as a prize to someone who steps on an ankle landmine.”
Afterwards, the Democratic Party decided to re-elect Attorney Su-jin Cho and Rep. Yong-jin Park, and Attorney Cho won, but controversy arose as the fact that he defended a sex offender in the past came to light. In particular, controversy over secondary victimization arose as it became known that Attorney Cho defended the perpetrator in a minor sexual assault case and pointed out ‘the possibility that the sexually transmitted disease was transmitted from a third party or family member.’ Ultimately, the Democratic Party confirmed Spokesperson Han Min-soo as its candidate on the 22nd.
A Democratic Party official said in a phone call with News 1, “It is difficult to confirm the real estate issue because the party voluntarily pays taxes,” and added, “We are considering filing a complaint against former candidate Lee for obstruction of business.” Another Democratic Party official also explained, “Candidates must write and submit a property report, but if they omit it, the party has no way to verify it.”
The People Power Party is also suffering from controversy over the candidates’ past remarks and actions. The People Power Party canceled the nominations of three people, including candidate Jeong Woo-taek (Cheongju Sangdang, North Chungcheong Province), who was suspected of receiving money envelopes, and candidates Do Tae-woo (Daegu Middle and South), who were at the center of controversy over abusive language, and Jang Ye-chan (Busan Suyeong).
Previously, Candidate Chung was embroiled in suspicions of receiving money envelopes after CCTV footage of him receiving an envelope from Mr. A, a cafe businessman, was released to the media. Candidate Chung’s side refuted that he had returned the envelope, but Mr. A’s side claimed that he had not received it, and the battle continued.
Candidate Do said in a past YouTube broadcast, “It is common sense that there are some very problematic aspects of the May 18th democratization movement, and that North Korea’s intervention in particular is a problem.” Candidate Jang caused controversy in the past by posting posts such as ‘orgy remarks’, ‘I want to blow up the animal hospital’, and ‘remarks on the level of sophistication of Seoul citizens’ on the social networking service (SNS) Facebook.
The ruling and opposition parties appear to be intensifying their attacks on the opposing candidates. First, the Democratic Party, whose lawyer Cho Soo-jin resigned, is demanding the withdrawal of nominations for People Power Party candidates who defended sex offenders.
Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said in a written briefing on this day that the People Power Party candidates Jo Soo-yeon (Seogap, Daejeon), Sang-wook Kim (Nam-gap, Ulsan), Ja-ryong Koo (Yangcheon-gap, Seoul), and Young-ha Yoo (Dalseo-gap, Daegu) have a history of handling sex offender cases and “even just hearing their names are malicious people.” “This is an incident,” he said, adding, “Based on Chairman Han Dong-hoon’s remarks, we demand the candidates’ nominations be withdrawn. Chairman Han urged them to make a clean apology for his false statement (that he was on the victim’s side).”
They also fought back on real estate issues. Spokesperson Choi Min-seok said in a briefing, “Candidate Lee Hye-hoon’s assets are over 16 billion won. However, no records were submitted showing that he paid a deposit for rent or monthly rent in Jung or Seongdong-gu, where he was running.” He added, “Candidate Lee’s assets, which were around 6 billion won when he was a member of the National Assembly, have been lost for four years. “It has increased by 10 billion won in just one day. Please explain what motivated the increase in assets,” he pointed out.
The People Power Party raised suspicions, saying that in addition to candidate Lee Young-seon, whose nomination was canceled, there are other Democratic Party candidates suspected of gap speculation.
On this day, People Power Emergency Response Committee member Kim Gyeong-yul reported the asset declaration details of candidates including Democratic Party candidate Lee Sang-sik (Yongin-gap), Lee Young-seon (Sejong-gap nomination canceled), Moon Jin-seok (Cheonan-gap), Kim Ki-pyo (Bucheon-eul), and Lee Kang-il (Cheongju Sangdang). Suspicions were raised regarding this. Committee member Kim said that they engaged in gap speculation and said, “Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myeong, please give me an answer.”
Accordingly, the parties protested against Kim’s claims, saying that the facts were “obviously incorrect” and that “there was no illegality or preferential treatment.”
Reporter Kim Jeong-hyeon Photo News 1
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2024-03-26 06:06:30