Lee Nak-yeon "Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, Will Pass Unilaterally as Opposition Does Not Respond"

"Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Repeated Lies Are Fatal"

Lee Nak-yeon, the Standing Election Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the Central Election Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 29th and conducted a performance encouraging early voting before the meeting started. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Lee Nak-yeon, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's Central Election Countermeasures Committee, expressed his intention to pass the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act even if it means doing so solely with the ruling party. This reflects his determination to promptly implement measures to prevent the abuses revealed by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal.

On the 30th, Lee appeared on YTN Radio's 'Hwang Bo-seon's Start of a New Morning' and said about the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, "Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, proposed to the opposition party to hold a one-stop plenary session by the end of this month to handle the bill, but the opposition has not responded positively. In that case, I think we have no choice but to proceed with a unilateral passage."

Regarding the schedule for processing, he said, "Since it is still pending in the subcommittee, it will take at least 3-4 days to go through agenda adjustment procedures there, pass the full committee meeting, pass the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and then go to the plenary session, even if we work on it every day. I think the sooner, the better, but that decision will be made by the floor leader."

Concerning the opinion raised during the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Legislation Committee) review about the unconstitutionality of the bill related to retroactive recovery of unfair real estate gains by public officials, he said, "It did not seem to be the majority opinion. However, the subcommittee currently has a culture of unanimous agreement, so it seems they could not proceed. The public will not accept that. We need to hurry."

Regarding the People Power Party's criticism of the dismissal of former Blue House Policy Chief Kim Sang-jo as "scapegoating," he strongly rebutted. Lee said, "I believe the dismissal was inevitable and shameful. It is embarrassing that someone who held that position would have such an incident," but added, "If the policy chief is the scapegoat, what are we supposed to do? Such remarks are careless."

He launched an offensive against Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, calling it a "fatal lie." Lee said, "Whether he knew about the Naegok-dong land or not was something the candidate himself said. He said he would quit if testimony came out; everything was said by the candidate himself." He added, "Turning that around and asking why he reversed his statement is not negative campaigning? I think labeling that as negative campaigning is itself negative campaigning. There is also negative campaigning by the media."

He continued regarding the suspicion of land surveying in Naegok-dong involving candidate Oh, "He said it would be over once the witness's signature was obtained, but that is not the case at all. In that regard, no convincing explanation has been provided."

Lee also criticized, "Having suspicions related to real estate at this time can be seen as a flaw for a public official, and repeated lies are even more fatal."

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