Won Hee-ryong "I Won't Release Lee Jun-seok's Recording... He Admitted His Mistake"

Urging Fulfillment of Promise for Fair Primary Election
Earlier Press Conference Demanded Release of Dialogue Recording File by 6 PM

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Won Hee-ryong, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party and former governor of Jeju Province, stated on the 18th that the decision not to release the recorded phone call with Representative Lee Jun-seok "is essentially an admission of his own fault," and added, "I hope he reaffirms his promise to conduct a fair primary and makes sure to carry it out."

On the same day, Won posted on social media (SNS), "In the end, Representative Lee did not disclose the original recording of the phone call," and said, "I hope this serves as an opportunity to never repeat such a mistake."

Previously, Won and Lee engaged in a dispute over the phone conversation on the 10th. During their call, Lee mentioned "it is being settled," but Won informed the media that Lee said "Former Prosecutor General Yoon is being settled." In response, Lee released a transcript of the call generated by artificial intelligence (AI), explaining that he meant "the tense relationship with former Prosecutor General Yoon is being settled." Regarding this, Won held an emergency press conference on the same day, demanding that Lee disclose the entire phone recording by 6 p.m. concerning the remarks about former Prosecutor General Yoon's settlement.

Won stated that the reason he raised this issue was because "without a fair primary, regime change is difficult," and claimed, "Even in situations where the primary rules were being made disadvantageous to certain candidates, those candidates who thought it was favorable to themselves just enjoyed the situation."

He said, "The dispute over the conversation with the party leader was not about siding with Yoon Seok-yeol or promoting Won Hee-ryong, but an action to save our primary," and added, "It stemmed from my sincere desire for a fair primary and my intention to make the party leader realize what he should and should not do."

Won concluded, "I regret the current conflict, but the essence of the issue is to save the primary and achieve the goal of regime change by gaining the trust of the people," and said, "We should not calculate who is advantaged or disadvantaged, but use this as an opportunity to create a primary that can move the people. For the goal of a fair primary, I will continue to devote everything I have and fulfill my role."

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