Hong Joon-pyo Posts 4 Times a Day to 'Check Kim Jong-in'... "Willing to Reveal More About the Slush Fund Scandal"

Kim Jong-in, former General Election Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, is delivering a greeting at the 'Right Society Movement Federation, Political Reform Forum' held on the 24th at the Bankers Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Hong Joon-pyo, former leader of the Liberty Korea Party, is checking Kim Jong-in, former chief of the Future United Party’s Emergency Response Committee (ERC), by bringing the "Donghwa Bank slush fund" case back to the surface. Hong posted four Facebook posts in one day, threatening to reveal more details about the "slush fund investigation."

On the 25th, Hong said on his Facebook, "Please stop now and do not meddle in politics anymore," addressing Kim.

He emphasized, "That person (Kim) is a convicted bribery offender, and his role in the Roh Tae-woo slush fund case involving billions should also be investigated," adding, "If he denies it, I am willing to reveal more behind-the-scenes details of the Donghwa Bank slush fund case."

From the morning of the same day, Hong posted four consecutive posts opposing Kim’s appointment as ERC chairman. In the first post, he said, "I oppose giving the position of ERC chairman with unlimited and indefinite authority to a person stained by the corruption and irregularities of the 1993 Donghwa Bank slush fund case for the sake of the party’s future." In the second post, he stated, "At the request of Chief Prosecutor Ham Seung-hee during the Donghwa Bank slush fund case, I entered the prosecutor’s office and obtained a confession of bribery from former Economic Secretary Kim Jong-in within 20 minutes."

In the third post, he questioned, "Is it reasonable to fill our party’s leadership, which has a history as a ‘carrying party,’ with a person who has a bribery record?" In the fourth post posted in the evening, he emphasized self-reliance, saying, "Let’s no longer rely on corrupt figures."

Kim Jong-in, former General Election Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, is delivering a greeting at the 'Right Society Movement Union, Political Reform Forum' held at the Bankers Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 24th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The "Donghwa Bank slush fund case" mentioned by former leader Hong refers to the incident in which Kim Jong-in, who was the Blue House Economic Secretary, was involved in the 1993 Donghwa Bank bribery case and was sentenced by the Supreme Court in 1994 to 2 years and 6 months in prison with 4 years probation and a fine of 210 million won. Tae Yong-ho (Taegumin), elected from Gangnam-gap, also mentioned the Donghwa Bank case in response to Kim’s media interview before the general election, where Kim said he had "no roots in South Korea."

Hong had previously recommended Kim as a suitable candidate for the ERC chairman on CBS Radio’s "Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show," but later explained, "I was temporarily mistaken, thinking there was no alternative," and said, "After seeing his recent statements filled with greed, I realized it is absolutely impossible to tolerate him."

Hong’s posting of four related posts in one day mentioning Kim’s Donghwa Bank slush fund case seems to be influenced by Kim’s recent public "Generation of the 40s" theory. In a recent interview with Chosun Ilbo, Kim expressed his intention to nurture "economic experts born in the 1970s" as the next presidential candidates and dismissed Hong as a "figure already verified." For Hong, who is aiming to return to the party and run in the 2022 presidential election, this is inevitably unsettling.

Voices opposing Kim’s appointment are also emerging within the party. As the United Party plans to hold a national committee meeting on the 28th to approve the "Kim Jong-in ERC," Cho Kyung-tae, a Supreme Council member, held a press conference on the 24th and said, "To ensure the new leadership is formed without any setbacks, the ERC’s authority and duration must be clearly defined," adding, "If you truly want to serve the United Party, do not demand excessive authority but run in the party convention according to the party’s constitution and regulations."

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