Yoon Hee-sook: "Kim Hye-kyung stole public funds to buy beef, how could she have missed the Daejang-dong windfall?"

"Do We Have to Watch Local Government Heads Steal National Funds to Buy Meals?"

Yoon Hee-sook, member of the People Power Party./Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Heesook directly criticized Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, regarding allegations of private misuse of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Secretary Office corporate card, saying, "Would they have just passed up on development project windfalls like Daejang-dong with the mindset of stealing national money to buy Korean beef?"

In a post on Facebook on the 3rd, former lawmaker Yoon strongly criticized, "While talking about basic income with their mouth, are they actually committing basic embezzlement?" and added, "At this level, it's not just a failure to distinguish between public and private affairs, but outright deliberate theft of national funds."

She continued, "Korean beef is so expensive that even relatively well-off families hesitate to buy it when grocery shopping," and questioned, "With the attitude that what our family wants to eat transcends all rules, did they only steal Korean beef and sushi? Would they have just passed up on big projects like Daejang-dong or Baekhyeon-dong development projects?"

Former lawmaker Yoon also addressed allegations that while Lee was serving as governor of Gyeonggi Province, Kim had a level 7 public official A from the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Secretary Office run personal errands such as proxy prescription of medicine, saying, "Using Gyeonggi Province level 7 public official A as a domestic helper was a major mistake by the governor," and criticized, "It made a precious national resource perform duties outside their obligations."

She added, "One of the heaviest virtues of a leader is distinguishing between public and private affairs. This is even more true in a democratic society," and pointed out, "While all citizens should enjoy freedom, there inevitably must be restrictions for the maintenance and development of the state. If a leader acts just like an ordinary citizen, selfishly prioritizing personal interests, who would trust them and accept unpleasant matters?"

She then said, "At this point, the disgust of having to witness a local government leader’s family stealing national money to buy meals in the presidential election is overwhelming, but the more so, we must not lose our composure about this person to prevent further damage to the country."

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and his spouse Kim Hye-kyung visited Yongsan Station in Seoul on the 31st of last month, greeting New Year travelers./Photo by the Democratic Party Election Committee [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 2nd, KBS reported citing whistleblower A that there were signs Kim had privately misused the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Secretary Office corporate card. A claimed that after purchasing side dishes and meals such as beef with public funds, they delivered them to Kim’s home, and used a loophole by first paying with a personal card and later reimbursing with the corporate card.

Earlier, A also revealed that they received instructions from Bae, a level 5 public official at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government and a close aide to candidate Lee, to run personal errands such as proxy prescription of Kim’s medicine and handling the discharge procedures for their son, which fall under private errands.

Regarding this, Kim issued a statement through the Democratic Party’s election campaign committee, saying, "Everything is my fault. I should have clearly distinguished between public and private matters, but I received help due to my friendship with Bae. However, I did not receive constant assistance."

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