Park Young-sun: "Hong Joon-pyo finally admits prosecution's internal investigation... Japanese apartment to be disposed of in February"

Independent lawmaker Hong Jun-pyo. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo claimed that Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul mayoral candidate, was "factually incorrect" in her explanation that her husband owned an apartment in Tokyo because "he was surveilled during the Lee Myung-bak administration in connection with BBK, which led him to quit his job and flee to Japan."

On the 21st, Hong posted on his Facebook, "The BBK incident was the decisive factor in the 2007 presidential election, and I was the head of the BBK countermeasure team for the Grand National Party. At that time, Park was the main attacker from the Democratic Party," adding, "The issue that arose then was the planned entry theory of Kim Kyung-joon, and Mr. Shim, Kim Kyung-joon's lawyer, and Park's husband worked together as colleagues at an LA law firm, so I suspected some kind of secret agreement."

He continued, "However, due to lack of evidence, we could not file a complaint but requested the prosecution to investigate the truth," and "After the election, the prosecution's investigation expanded to whether Park's husband was involved, and when they raided the law firm office where her husband worked, he crossed over to Japan," he claimed.

He added, "There was no evidence that Park's husband was involved in the planned entry, so the investigation was closed, and I even apologized to Park for that," and said, "It was not surveillance but a prosecution investigation, and we only had a suspicion about Park's husband, but never specifically pointed him out."

Park Young-sun, Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Seoul mayor. Photo by Yonhap News

In response to Hong's claims, Park expressed displeasure on Facebook that afternoon, saying, "Finally, Representative Hong Joon-pyo has confessed," and "He admitted to investigating and raiding an innocent civilian."

She criticized, "The case where National Intelligence Service agents surveilled my family and reported information to the prosecution's crime planning unit. The story that made my family scatter apart is being brought up again, stirring my blood."

Park refuted Hong's claims, saying, "But there is another absurd falsehood. Who is Mr. Shim? Please reveal his name. My husband says he has never worked with anyone named Shim in the U.S."

She further explained, "My husband was forced out of his company after President Lee Myung-bak's inauguration in 2008 and went to Japan, where he found a job and lived, which is why he bought the apartment there. And that apartment was sold in February," adding, "The property declaration reflects the status as of the end of last December, which is why it was included in the report," clarifying the suspicion once again.

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