Kim Gun-hee Faces False Career Allegations... Ruling Party's Fierce Criticism: "Disrespecting the Law," "Candidate Should Withdraw"

Kim Geon-hee Admits to Some 'False Career Claims'... "If Ambition to Stand Out Is a Sin, Then It's a Sin"
Ruling Party: "Yoon, Clarify Your Position on How to Handle This Case"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the spouse of the People Power Party's presidential candidate, Kim Geon-hee. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] As allegations have been raised that Kim Geon-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, falsified career and award records in a professor appointment application submitted to a university in the past, the ruling party has collectively criticized her.

Goh Min-jeong, the Situation Room Chief of the Democratic Party's Election Countermeasures Committee, emphasized on Facebook on the 14th that regarding the allegations related to Ms. Kim, "Candidate Yoon should stake his conscience as a prosecutor and clarify his position on how to handle these cases."

Goh said, "Kim Geon-hee, who admits her criminal acts by saying things like 'Believe it or not, I don't remember,' 'It was my greed to stand out,' and 'I wasn't a public official or a public figure, so why should I be scrutinized this much?' is a woman who has lived disregarding the law."

Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Cheong-rae also posted a critical message titled "In my view, this is grounds for candidate withdrawal" on his Facebook.

Jung opened by saying, "Article 265 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that if a candidate's spouse is sentenced to imprisonment or fined 3 million won or more, the candidate's election is invalidated. It is a kind of joint responsibility," adding, "The election law strictly punishes false academic or career records of candidates mostly with invalidation of election."

He continued, "Of course, Yoon's wife Kim Geon-hee would want to argue that 'these are matters before marriage, the statute of limitations has passed, it was not used for school admission, and it is not written in the election brochure.'"

He pointed out, "Legally, she might evade responsibility by various means, but if she lies about past issues at the present time, that can be subject to legal application," and "In any case, this issue has become difficult to avoid."

He also said, "In my view, this is grounds for candidate withdrawal," and concluded, "For candidate Yoon, speaking is a problem and not speaking is a problem; for Mrs. Yoon Seok-yeol, going out is a problem and not going out is a problem. I ask candidate Yoon: Wouldn't your wife be very distressed? If you truly care for your wife, how about stopping at this point?"

Jeong Cheong-rae, Democratic Party of Korea member. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier on the same day, according to a YTN report, Ms. Kim stated in a professor invitation application submitted to Suwon Women's University in 2007 that she had served as Planning Director of the Planning Team at the Game Industry Association for three years from 2002 to 2005. However, it was revealed that the association was established in June 2004.

In an interview with the media, Ms. Kim said, "Believe it or not, I don't remember," and "I am verifying the exact circumstances." When asked again whether she actually served as Planning Director, Ms. Kim said, "I was in the same building as the Game Industry Association and was close with association officials, and I invited them to special lectures at the school I was affiliated with."

Also, the part of the award record listed in the application claiming she won the grand prize at the Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival in August 2004 was found to be untrue. Ms. Kim admitted to the fake award record, saying, "It was my greed to stand out," and "If that is a sin, then it is a sin."

Regarding this, Choi Ji-hyun, Senior Deputy Spokesperson of the People Power Party Central Election Committee, explained, "Ms. Kim lectured as a part-time instructor on graphic practice, history of design, and game planning at Hallym Sacred Heart University, Seoil University, and Korea Polytechnic University from 2001 to 2006, and from March 1, 2007, to February 28, 2008, she lectured as an adjunct professor at Suwon Women's University," adding, "The Korea Game Industry Association was formed as a corporation, and in its early days, Ms. Kim performed 'non-regular advisory activities' with the title of 'Planning Director' without pay, and later received a 'certificate of employment' after direct confirmation from the association's secretariat."

He continued, "At that time, Ms. Kim was involved in game design-related work and helped the association for over two years as 'Planning Director' without pay due to her connections with association officials. She did not receive separate pay or work full-time, and it seems the 'employment period' was mistakenly recorded when listing her career years later," emphasizing, "The report categorically stated 'false career at an association that was not even established' and 'fake award record,' but since there are such circumstances, this is not true."

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