People Power Party's Election Day Visit to Election Commission Protest "Oh Se-hoon Is Not Tax Evasion"

"Full of Misunderstandings... Not the Central Election Commission but the Democratic Party Election Intervention Committee"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The People Power Party's election countermeasures committee will visit the National Election Commission (NEC) in protest on the day of the April 7 by-elections. This is because the NEC used the phrase "omission of tax payment records" in its public notice, causing misunderstandings, despite Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party having no history of unpaid or delinquent taxes.

On the afternoon of the same day, Park Sung-joong, head of the election countermeasures committee, Jeon Ju-hye, head of the legal support team, and Yoo Kyung-jun, general director of the headquarters, will visit the NEC office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province to submit a request for correction. Prior to the visit, the People Power Party's election committee stated in a press release, "We judged that the malicious and biased expressions used in the 'Notice on the Contents of Candidate Information Disclosure Materials' posted at each polling station caused confusion among voters, and we are visiting the NEC to protest."

According to the NEC, the spouse of candidate Oh paid 119.97 million won in taxes over the past five years, but the amount reported to the NEC was 119.67 million won, which is 300,000 won less than the actual payment. After the People Power Party's objection, the NEC posted a correction notice at all polling stations in Seoul, stating that the reported tax payment amount of candidate Oh's spouse did not fully match the facts.

However, the People Power Party criticized again, saying that the phrase "omission of property tax payment and delinquency records" in the "Objection Details" section of the NEC's notice is misleading. On the morning of the same day, People Power Party spokesperson Bae Jun-young issued a statement saying, "It is also incomprehensible that the decision that the property declaration submitted on March 31 was inaccurate was made only yesterday, a day before the election," and pointed out, "Even if the notice was hastily posted, voters might mistakenly think that candidate Oh omitted tax payments, which is highly misleading."

Kim Cheol-geun, another spokesperson for the People Power Party, also released a statement in the afternoon, saying, "Ultimately, there is no problem with the tax payment process of candidate Oh and his spouse," and criticized, "Nevertheless, the NEC's use of the malicious phrase 'omission of tax payment records' cannot be seen as anything other than a deliberate three-way collusion between the Democratic Party and the NEC, which is tantamount to a serious attempt at election fraud."

He added, "It is not the National Election Commission but the Democratic Party's election interference committee," emphasizing, "They will face the stern judgment of the people."

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