Lee Jun-seok "Lee Jae-myung Will Be Punished by the People if He Keeps Relying on Flashy Rhetoric"

"Vague Explanations Won't Do... Demand for Precise Clarification" Urged

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party (left), and Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi Province. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Ju-hee] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, strongly criticized Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who announced he would resign from his gubernatorial position after attending the National Assembly audit, saying, "It seems he intends to endure the audit with flashy rhetoric, but if he does that, the public will punish him again."

On the same day, appearing on KBS's 'Sasa Geongeon,' Lee targeted Governor Lee, who is under suspicion of preferential treatment in the Daejang-dong development project in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, stating, "To undergo the audit, he must sincerely submit the requested documents, but the responses from the Gyeonggi Provincial Office and Seongnam City Hall to the document submission requests are very inadequate."

He added, "Besides the documents, there is a mountain of things Governor Lee must answer. So far, he has only responded with denial or strange analogies," emphasizing, "It is just a feast of words, and nothing has been properly explained. It will be difficult to handle the Daejang-dong allegations by continuing to evade them."

Regarding former President Moon Jae-in's recent order for a thorough investigation into the Daejang-dong allegations, Lee said, "When President Moon appointed former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, he instructed him to conduct an investigation without any sacred cows. Many people remember what happened when Yoon carried out that investigation without exceptions."

He continued, "I think the prosecution, seeing that, might be wondering whether the president's instruction to investigate without sacred cows means they should or should not investigate," adding, "If they think, 'Will I be audited later like former Prosecutor General Yoon?' they won't proceed."

Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who was selected as the 20th presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the 'Meeting between Party Leadership and Democratic Party Presidential Candidate' held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 11th. / Photo by National Assembly Press Corps [Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding his proposal for a special prosecutor to investigate the Daejang-dong allegations to the Democratic Party, Lee said, "I proposed it hoping that among the 180 Democratic Party lawmakers, some tens of them have a conscience, but they responded by calling it 'sowing discord,' which left us quite taken aback."

He continued, "Candidate Lee Jae-myung has always claimed that if there are allegations against him, they are unrelated and that he has been exonerated. There are inconsistent explanations coming out, which is puzzling, and from now on, the public will not overlook any vague explanations. They demand precise clarifications."

Meanwhile, Lee Jae-myung, who was selected as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, announced he would resign from his gubernatorial position after the Gyeonggi Province audit. At an online emergency press conference held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office briefing room that day, he said, "Many people have been interested in when I will resign as governor and have called me a lot, so I am publicly informing you. As originally planned and stated, I will properly attend the Gyeonggi Province audit."

He added, "Although political attacks are expected regarding the Daejang-dong development and Hwacheon Daeyu Gate, I believe this will be a good opportunity to explain the specific details, administrative achievements, and performance of the Daejang-dong development project," and said, "I will reconsider and announce the timing of my resignation after the audit."

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