Moon Jun-yong's "The transcript is the minutes" rebuttal... Bae Hyun-jin: "Just changing words to 'I misspoke'?"

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 Jae-in President's son, Moon Jun-yong. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Bae Hyun-jin, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, targeted Moon Jun-yong, son of President Moon Jae-in, who is engaged in a heated debate over the '69 million won support fund' controversy, saying, "Did you really just change your words to say it was merely a 'misstatement' between two distinctly different 'recordings' and 'minutes'?"

Earlier, Moon Jun-yong rebutted Bae's demand to disclose how he obtained the confidential interview recording of the contest judging, saying, "That was already leaked to the media by People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do," and insisted, "The recording I am referring to is the minutes."

Regarding allegations of preferential treatment in receiving art support funds, Moon said in an interview with a media outlet on the 26th, "I don't understand what's wrong with mentioning my name. According to the recording, during the interview, a staff member from the secretariat first said, 'Please introduce the attendees and explain the project you applied for,'" drawing attention to how Moon obtained this 'recording.'

Media art artist Moon Jun-yong, son of President Moon Jae-in. Photo by Yonhap News

In response to Moon's rebuttal, Bae posted on Facebook on the 29th, "Neither the documents publicly released by lawmaker Kwak Sang-do nor the documents submitted to the National Assembly by the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service (KACES) contain the word 'recording.' What is going on?" She pointed out, "The 'minutes' released to the media are summaries of interviews conducted for 15 minutes per person, condensed by KACES to about 3 minutes."

She continued, "The verbatim 'recording' that transcribes every word exchanged and the 'minutes' arbitrarily shortened by attending staff are distinctly different materials," and criticized, "Did you really just change your words to say it was merely a 'misstatement'? These are clearly different 'recordings' and 'minutes.'"

She added, "It seems Mr. Moon Jun-yong has been deeply pondering overnight," and sarcastically remarked, "Since he unusually posted carefully written statements unlike his usual self, my curiosity grows. Could he be seeking legal advice?"

Meanwhile, Moon himself announced on the 18th that he was selected as a recipient of the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service's 'Art and Technology Convergence Support Project' and would receive 69 million won in support funds. However, it was reported that he revealed his real name and introduced himself during the interview, raising suspicions of preferential treatment in the selection process.

Moon also faced criticism from opposition parties last December after being selected for the 'Emergency Art Support for COVID-19 Damage' project and receiving 14 million won from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

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