Justice Party "Kim Hye-kyung Protocol Controversy Admitted Late... Lee Should Apologize Instead of Hypocrisy"

"Criticized Privatization of Power, Then Used Public Officials for Personal Purposes"

Lee Dong-young, Chief Spokesperson of the Justice Party / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] The Justice Party has urged Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, to "stop being hypocritical and apologize to the public" regarding allegations of his spouse Kim Hye-kyung's 'private use of public officials.'

Lee Dong-young, the chief spokesperson of the Justice Party, said in a written briefing on the 2nd, "The allegations of Kim, the spouse of candidate Lee, using public officials for personal errands such as proxy prescription of medicine and food delivery have ultimately been proven true," adding, "Despite the controversy throughout the Lunar New Year holiday, they insisted it was groundless and false information, but only admitted it belatedly today, five days later."

He continued, "Instead of taking responsibility and sincerely apologizing, candidate Lee and Kim hastily tried to scapegoat the personal misconduct of public officials. This is extremely disappointing and unacceptable," and condemned, "Candidate Lee, who strongly criticized the privatization of power and vowed never to tolerate it, should responsibly apologize to the citizens for his spouse's private use of public officials."

The allegations of Kim's 'private use of public officials' were first raised on the 28th of last month. On that day, SBS reported the allegations based on the claims of a former secretary A, who worked in the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Secretariat from early last year until resignation. According to the report, A was instructed by Bae, a member of the General Affairs Division of Gyeonggi Provincial Government, to run various trivial errands related to Kim.

The next day, TV Chosun cited A's claims and further reported on the Lee family's private use of public officials. According to the media, A visited a general hospital in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to run personal errands for the Lee family.

A claimed that at the hospital, they received the resident registration card of Lee's eldest son, who had already been discharged, completed the discharge procedures on his behalf, and collected prescribed medicine.

Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate / Photo by Yonhap News

Amid growing controversy, Kim issued a statement through the Democratic Party's election campaign committee on the 2nd, apologizing, saying, "It was all my fault."

She said, "I should have clearly distinguished between public and private matters, but I received help because of my acquaintance with Bae," and bowed her head, saying, "I feel heartbroken thinking about how difficult it must have been for Secretary A, who must have suffered all this time."

However, she added, "I did not receive constant assistance from Bae," indicating that the private use was not a regular occurrence.

Bae also issued a statement through the Democratic Party's campaign committee, saying, "I apologize to the parties involved, the public, and the public officials of Gyeonggi Provincial Government for the concerns caused by the various demands made to a special secretary of Gyeonggi Province."

He continued, "I was the one who asked A to do things that no one ordered," emphasizing, "I mistook knowing candidate Lee for a position of power, and I wanted to be favored by the Lee couple, so I made unreasonable demands beyond common sense. It was something that should never have been done."

Regarding the allegations that he instructed the prescription and receipt of medicine, he explained, "I tried to obtain medicine prescribed to someone else for my own use," and "The various errands, including food delivery for the governor, stemmed from my immature mindset. I had no authority to give orders, and no one asked me to do so, but I made unfair demands to A."

He repeatedly apologized, saying, "I failed to recognize that even such attempts could be a great burden to the person involved."

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