"Yoon Seok-yeol and Choi Jae-hyung a Stain on Constitutional History? Ridiculous"…Former Chief Judge Criticizes Lee Jae-myung

Kim Taegyu, Lee Jaemyung on 'Stain in Constitutional History' Remarks: "Isn't Your Whole Life a Stain?"

On the 5th, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential pre-candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, preparing for a joint TV debate at the JTBC studio in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Former Busan District Court Chief Judge Kim Taegyu raised his voice in criticism against Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province and presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea.

On the 17th, former Chief Judge Kim posted an article titled "A Stain on the Constitution? It's Absurd" on his Facebook. This is interpreted as a response to Lee Jae-myung's remark on Constitution Day, where he described former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hyung's presidential bids as "leaving a stain in constitutional history." Former Chief Judge Kim then quoted lines from the movie Veteran, such as "The handle of the millstone is called 'eoi' (absurd)," and "That's how I feel now, it's absurd," to express his feelings.

Photo by Kim Taegyu, former chief judge, Facebook

Former Chief Judge Kim directly listed Lee Jae-myung's criminal records: "In 2003, fined 1.5 million won for false accusation and impersonating a public official," "In 2004, fined 1.5 million won for drunk driving," "In 2004, fined 5 million won for obstruction of official duties and damage to public property," and "In 2010, fined 500,000 won for election law violation." He also pointed out, "Even ordinary people would be called 'mangjong' (a disgraceful lineage) if such a criminal record appears in a background check."

He sarcastically added, "This is the record of the strongest ruling party candidate to become the President of the Republic of Korea in 2022," and "Our country has become one where a disgraceful lineage dreams of the presidency without changing a single facial expression." He concluded by criticizing, "Ordinary public officials would not even be allowed to apply for appointment if they had one or two of these records," and "A person whose life itself is a stain talks about stains on the constitution," saying, "(That remark) is at least not something Lee Jae-myung should say."

Earlier, on May 21, former Chief Judge Kim attended the launch meeting of the "People's Coalition for Fairness and Common Sense (Fairness and Common Sense)" forum, formed to support former Prosecutor General Yoon's presidential bid, and expressed "critical support" for Yoon. At that time, former Chief Judge Kim said, "I do not view the phenomenon of Yoon receiving great support positively," "This phenomenon would not have appeared if the country were in proper order," and "The people are not relying on Yoon Seok-yeol to come and fix everything properly."

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