Kukim: "Lee Seondae-wi Concealed Confirmed Cases"... Democratic Party Refutes as "False Information, Proactive Quarantine Measures"

野 "Kept Quiet for Nearly a Week, Confirmed Through Media Reports"
與 "False Claims by People Power Party on Lee Jae-myung Campaign COVID-19 Cases Concealment... Demand Retraction"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is attending and speaking at a meeting on the 'Fair Growth' economic policy held on the 3rd at the Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] The People Power Party's Election Countermeasures Committee (ECC) urged Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, on the 4th to "directly explain to the public why the ECC concealed the fact that a confirmed COVID-19 case occurred within the committee." The Democratic Party's ECC immediately rebutted, stating, "We complied with health authorities' guidelines and implemented rigorous preemptive quarantine measures."

Won Il-hee, spokesperson for the People Power Party ECC, announced in a statement that day, "A COVID-19 case has been confirmed within Candidate Lee's ECC." Won said, "Although the confirmed case was diagnosed on November 28, the committee concealed it for nearly a week, and it was only confirmed through media reports. Moreover, Candidate Lee's ECC kept silent about disinfecting the floors overlapping with the confirmed case's movements and sending all staff to work from home."

Won added, "COVID-19 does not spare any political party; there is no safe zone anywhere," and continued, "It is hard to accept that the ruling party's ECC, which should promptly, accurately, and transparently disclose and respond to confirmed cases, concealed the fact for nearly a week."

He further criticized, "Candidate Lee harshly condemned Shincheonji followers for concealing confirmed cases during his tenure as Gyeonggi Province governor," and "He insisted that full disclosure regarding infectious diseases is a duty to the public." However, "He remained silent about the confirmed case within his own ECC. Does this mean election campaigning takes precedence over the health and safety of the people?" he questioned.

Won emphasized, "With daily confirmed cases exceeding 5,000 and the emergence of the Omicron variant, the situation is severe," and explained, "The concealment of movement paths related to the Omicron variant has also become a subject of public criticism." He urged, "Lee Jae-myung's ECC should apologize for concealing the confirmed case and thoroughly disclose the situation following the case to the public."

In response, the Democratic Party's ECC strongly criticized in a statement from the General Affairs Headquarters' Operations Support Team that day, "The People Power Party distributed a statement as if we tried to conceal the case, spreading false information. They should retract the statement."

Regarding the People Power Party's claims, the Democratic Party rebutted, "On the 29th of last month, a full-time ECC member was diagnosed with COVID-19, and a text message was sent to all 800 full-time ECC members informing them of this fact," adding, "About 40 colleagues working in the same office underwent PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing and were asked to refrain from coming to work."

They continued, "Contacts who had meals and drinks with the confirmed case from the 25th, four days before the diagnosis, worked from home for 10 days from their last contact," and "From the 30th, the ECC's organizational headquarters and the People's Participation Platform located in the building where the confirmed case worked were asked to refrain from coming to work as a selective measure." They emphasized, "These measures were decided in consultation with the Yeongdeungpo Public Health Center, the quarantine authority."

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