"If clearing out deep-rooted evils is political revenge, then it can be done all the time," Opposition recalls Lee Jae-myung's past remarks

Lee, in the past, said to the opposition, "Catching thieves may seem like retaliation to the thieves"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, stated in 2017, early in the Moon Jae-in administration, when the Blue House disclosed non-public documents related to the Park Geun-hye administration and the opposition party protested, "If clearing out deep-rooted evils and injustice is 'political revenge,' then such political revenge should be done every day." Photo by Facebook capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] In response to Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, stating "eradication of deep-rooted evils during his administration," President Moon Jae-in and the ruling party have demanded an official apology, calling it "political revenge." Meanwhile, Won Hee-ryong, head of the policy division of the People Power Party's election campaign headquarters, counterattacked by recalling past remarks made by Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.

On the 10th, Head Won pointed out on his Facebook that Lee previously said, "If eradicating deep-rooted evils and injustice is political revenge, then such political revenge can be done every day."

Lee's remarks came in July 2017, early in the Moon Jae-in administration, when the Blue House consecutively disclosed confidential documents created during the Park Geun-hye administration. At that time, Hong Joon-pyo, leader of the Liberty Korea Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party), criticized it as "political revenge," to which Lee responded.

Lee said, "Catching thieves may seem like revenge to the thieves..." and added, "Representative Hong, to me, it is not revenge but the realization of justice and common sense."

Head Won shared an image featuring Lee’s photo and the quoted statement, criticizing the Blue House by saying, "Before getting angry at candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, why don't you discipline candidate Lee Jae-myung first?" He also addressed Lee, who said, "A presidential candidate who openly declares political revenge is the first in constitutional history," by stating, "The first presidential candidate to openly declare political revenge in constitutional history is you. Political revenge is not in candidate Yoon Seok-yeol’s dictionary. The one who should apologize to the people is you."

Earlier, on the 9th, in an interview with JoongAng Ilbo, Yoon responded to the question, "Will you investigate the deep-rooted evils of the previous administration as was done early in the Moon Jae-in government if you come to power?" by saying, "Yes, I will," and added, "The investigations conducted early in the government were based on constitutional principles. If the next government investigates its own corruption and illegalities, is that revenge? Everything is done according to the system."

In response, President Moon expressed "strong anger at the baseless labeling of the current government as a target of deep-rooted evil investigations and illegality," demanding an apology from candidate Yoon. According to Blue House spokesperson Park Soo-hyun, President Moon said during a morning staff meeting on the 10th, "Is he saying that while serving as the head of the Central District Prosecutors' Office and Prosecutor General, he turned a blind eye to the deep-rooted evils of this government? Or is he planning to fabricate nonexistent deep-rooted evils through planned investigations? He must answer."

The People Power Party is countering by claiming that President Moon is stepping out of political neutrality and interfering in the election. Lee Yang-su, chief spokesperson of the election campaign headquarters, issued a statement saying, "Candidate Yoon has only emphasized his usual conviction regarding the political neutrality of the prosecution and strict investigation principles based on law, principles, and the system," and added, "The Democratic Party first distorted candidate Yoon’s remarks to frame them as political revenge, and now the president and the Blue House are joining in?"

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