'Kim Gun-hee 7-Hour Call Recording' File Release Announced... People Power Party Calls It "Intentional Smear"

Content Related to Criticism of Moon, Cho Kuk, and Jeong Dae-taek

Kim Geon-hee making a statement regarding false resume allegations. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] As the YouTube channel 'Seoul's Voice' announced the release of a recorded phone conversation with Kim Gun-hee, the spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, the People Power Party stated that it "is judged to be a political operation" and announced plans for legal action.

On the 12th, Lee Yang-su, the chief spokesperson of the People Power Party's election campaign headquarters, said in a statement titled 'Position on OhmyNews Report,' "Between July 2021 and early December, Mr. A, who is in charge of filming at the YouTube channel 'Seoul's Voice,' had 10 to 15 'private calls' with Representative Kim Gun-hee, not interviews, and it is understood that Mr. A secretly recorded these private conversations and handed the files to a reporter B from a certain broadcasting station."

He continued, "Initially, Mr. A approached Representative Kim with the false claim that he would help respond to malicious allegations, secretly recorded the conversations, and then maliciously planned to release them in the form of a tip-off timed with the election period. This is judged to be a political operation by a specific force."

He added, "We are also seriously concerned about intentional defamation through devilish editing," and pointed out, "Secretly recording phone conversations between parties and disclosing them against the will of the other party constitutes an illegal act that infringes on constitutional voice rights and privacy freedom."

On the same day (the 12th), the People Power Party's legal support team filed a complaint against Mr. A for violating the Public Official Election Act and the Protection of Communications Secrets Act. They also warned that they would take strong legal measures against media outlets that publicly report the recorded files.

The chief spokesperson said, "Approaching with intent to secretly record private conversations and then reporting them cannot be regarded as within the scope of normal journalistic reporting and violates journalistic ethics."

Earlier that day, OhmyNews reported, "The contents of phone calls between a certain media reporter and Kim Gun-hee over six months last year will be released soon."

The reporter from the media reportedly had about 20 calls totaling 7 hours with Kim last year and recorded them. The recorded audio files are said to include criticisms of the Moon Jae-in administration, the prosecution investigation of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, and the non-attendance of witness Jeong Dae-taek at the National Assembly audit.

Additionally, the files reportedly contain content related to former President of the Korea Elementary School Taekwondo Federation Ahn Hae-wook, who gave a real-name testimony about the so-called 'Julie allegation' that Kim worked at a nightclub.

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