Bae Hyun-jin Demands Explanation on How 'Confidential Transcript' Was Obtained, Moon Jun-yong Responds, "Why the Misstep?"

Baek Hyun-jin, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, is holding a press conference on the 28th at the National Assembly Communication Office regarding Moon Joon-yong, son of President Moon Jae-in.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Moon Jun-yong, son of President Moon Jae-in, responded to People Power Party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin's demand to reveal how he obtained the confidential interview transcript from a contest judging panel by saying, "Lawmaker Bae, that was already leaked to the media by lawmaker Kwak (Kwak Sang-do of the People Power Party), even though it was confidential."

Moon wrote on his Facebook on the 29th, "I spoke after seeing that. The transcript here refers to the minutes of the meeting," clarifying the matter.

He explained the controversy by saying, "Why is lawmaker Bae making such a blunder? I think his team fell into the trap they set themselves," adding, "There is one reason why this happened."

Moon said, "Lawmaker Kwak claimed that I mentioned my name during the interview, which made the judges nervous, but that there was no need to mention my name. Strangely, the reason is revealed in the Monthly Chosun article covering this, where the scanned meeting minutes show that the moderator first asked, 'Please introduce the attendees and explain the projects you applied for.'

He continued, "I suspect lawmaker Kwak leaked this only to certain media outlets because his claim has flaws. However, Monthly Chosun even exposed the scanned minutes, and I don't think lawmaker Bae saw that."

He added, "Even so, lawmaker Kwak, who was identified as the source, should have been at least contacted for confirmation," and asked, "Shouldn't lawmaker Bae review his own minutes to clarify whether my claim is true? Instead, they are recklessly raising suspicions and spreading them on SNS without verifying the facts, playing team politics. Now that it has been confirmed, what will lawmaker Kwak, who leaked confidential information, do?"

He also lamented, "The media is spreading suspicions without verifying the easily accessible facts. Similar processes are endlessly repeated for the president's family. It has been like this since the presidential election and will continue."

President Moon Jae-in's son, Moon Jun-yong [Photo by Yonhap News]

Earlier, Moon Jun-yong was involved in a controversy over unfair preferential treatment after it was reported that he introduced himself as "Moon Jun-yong" during an interview for the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service's Art and Technology Convergence Support Project, where he received 69 million won in funding.

In response, Moon said in an interview with Kyunghyang Newspaper on the 26th, "I don't understand what's wrong with saying my name. According to the transcript, a staff member at the secretariat first said, 'Please introduce the attendees and explain the projects you applied for.' Isn't it natural that the first thing you say in a self-introduction is your name?" he argued.

Following this, lawmaker Bae inquired with the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service about the transcript, and the agency replied, "The requested material does not exist," and "We did not provide the minutes to artist Moon Jun-yong."

Then, on the 28th, lawmaker Bae stated, "The transcript that Moon Jun-yong claimed to have seen is the evaluation report where judges assessed applicants including himself," and urged, "The matter revealed in the interview is shocking to all citizens, and the identity and circumstances of the transcript must be clarified."

He added, "If Moon were an ordinary applicant, he would not have been able to see the transcript containing evaluations of not only himself but other applicants," and insisted, "Moon and the Blue House must explain how an ordinary citizen obtained a confidential government document and was able to review the evaluation later."

Lawmaker Bae emphasized, "Just admitting in an interview that he saw the transcript is a huge privilege," and said, "The Blue House and Moon must reveal who and how this document was delivered."

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