Lee Nak-yeon Side: "Praising Park Jeong-hui? Baseless Claim... Will Ultimately Bring Trouble Upon Themselves"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The campaign of former Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Nak-yeon rebutted the claim from Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's side that Lee had praised former President Park Chung-hee, calling it a "far-fetched assertion."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the evening of the 20th, Chief Spokesperson Oh Young-hoon issued a statement saying, "We sternly warn Lee Jae-myung's camp," and added, "Such far-fetched claims will ultimately bring trouble upon themselves."

Chief Spokesperson Oh pointed out that the expression used by Lee Nak-yeon during a regular meeting of the 'East-West Harmony Forum' held in Seoul on November 4, 2014, when he was Governor of Jeollanam-do, was misinterpreted by Governor Lee's side.

Oh stated, "Lee Nak-yeon said, 'I believe that the Kim Dae-jung paradigm and the Park Chung-hee paradigm, which built the Republic of Korea, will probably remain unchanged in the future. While the contents may vary depending on the era, I think the philosophy itself will not change. In that regard, our Jeonnam and Gyeongbuk regions, President Kim Dae-jung and President Park Chung-hee were truly great leaders,'" and refuted the claim of "praising President Park Chung-hee" made by Governor Lee's side.

Oh added, "This was an expression Lee Nak-yeon used to emphasize that 'the coexistence of Gwangju and Jeonnam, the coexistence of Honam, and the coexistence of Yeongnam and Honam are not distant matters for us but issues right before us,'" and criticized, "Claiming this as praise for President Park Chung-hee and defaming the candidate is a far-fetched distortion by Lee Jae-myung's camp."

He further added, "They should remember that the people are always wise and will judge firmly."

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