Jeong Cheong-rae: "Joo Gwang-deok's Claim of 'Demotion Text' is a Mistake, Will Suffer if No Apology"

"No Mocking Criticism... Should Apologize Quickly and End It"

Jeong Cheong-rae, former member of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Suwan] On the 12th, controversy is growing over the remarks made by Joo Gwang-deok, a member of the Liberty Korea Party, who claimed that Lee Seong-yoon, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, sent mocking text messages to some prosecutors regarding the prosecution personnel appointments. Former Democratic Party member Jeong Cheong-rae pointed out that "It was a mistake by Representative Joo."

On the 13th, former Representative Jeong appeared on MBC Radio's "The World and Us" and said, "(Representative Joo) did not see it himself but only heard about it. This seems like a statement that could cause harm."

Former Representative Jeong added, "Representative Joo also disclosed the text messages he sent. However, there was no mockery or criticism. This seems to be (Representative Joo's) mistake. He should apologize quickly and end this matter."

Jo Dae-won, the Goyang-jeong party committee chairman of the Liberty Korea Party, who appeared together, said, "In fact, the public is not very interested in this. The political world is making it seem like a very big incident, but the whole country is noisy over just one text message, and I feel sorry for the people who live hard every day. They are having an emotional fight, and I hope this will be resolved quickly and well."

Joo Kwang-deok, Liberty Korea Party member / Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, Representative Joo claimed that Lee Seong-yoon, the head of the prosecution bureau at the Ministry of Justice who was appointed as the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, sent mocking and harsh text messages to several prosecutors who were demoted shortly after the Ministry of Justice's prosecution personnel appointments.

At a press conference at the National Assembly, Representative Joo said, "As the head of the prosecution bureau responsible for personnel, Lee Seong-yoon sent text messages containing mockery and harsh words to several high-ranking prosecutors who were subject to personnel changes," and added, "He sent messages that are incomprehensible in a normal sense, as if intoxicated with power and having lost reason." Representative Joo did not disclose the specific contents of the text messages that Lee reportedly sent.

The Ministry of Justice immediately rebutted by releasing the related text messages. The Ministry issued an official statement saying, "The head of the prosecution bureau did not send any text messages containing 'provocations or harsh words close to insults' to several high-ranking prosecutors who were subject to personnel changes before and after this personnel appointment."

Furthermore, the released text messages contained the following: "I sincerely thank you for always helping with kind words and love. Thanks to your constant interest and support even in very difficult circumstances, I think I have managed to come this far and am grateful. I earnestly pray that you have a blessed time of peace and rest."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.