Choo Mi-ae: "Lonely Lee Jae-myung, I Raised Him When I Was Party Leader... He Listens Well"

"Candidate Lee Impressed by Practical Measures Like Childbirth Support and Free School Uniforms"
"When I Was Party Leader, I Gave Candidate Lee a Speech and Cheered Him On"

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae appeared in an interview on the political OTT platform "Jaeming," released by the Democratic Party's Election Countermeasures Committee / Photo by Jaeming video capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, who appeared in the political online video service (OTT) 'Jamming' interview released by the Democratic Party's election campaign committee, claimed, "I raised candidate Lee Jae-myung." Former Minister Choo also boasted of their close relationship, saying, "(Candidate Lee) listens to me very well."

On the 15th, in the 'Myungterview' video on the 'Jamming' site, when asked by the host, "Is Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, a younger brother who listens well?" she replied, "I like him very much. I was impressed by how he took the lead in implementing policies such as providing childbirth support funds and free school uniforms during his time as mayor of Seongnam."

When asked, "Did Choo Mi-ae really raise Lee Jae-myung?" she emphasized, "It's true. I was the party leader. I signed the nomination certificates and traveled across the country to get all candidates elected, but candidate Lee was especially lonely. So I gave heartfelt speeches, held his hand tightly, and cheered him on."

Former Minister Choo served as the leader of the Democratic Party for two years from August 2016 to August 2018. Candidate Lee ran for governor of Gyeonggi Province in the June 13, 2018 local elections, and she was the one who gave him the nomination certificate at that time.

She also joked, "If he doesn't keep his presidential pledges, I will grab him by the collar," adding, "I'm warning you in advance, you know this older sister is scary."

Former Minister Chu also emphasized, "If Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, does not keep his promises, I will not remain silent." / Photo by Jaeming, video capture

Earlier, former Minister Choo actively supported candidate Lee during last year's Democratic Party presidential primary. At that time, candidate Lee was attacked by other primary candidates amid allegations of preferential treatment in the Seongnam Daejang-dong development project and controversies over insulting his sister-in-law. Former Minister Choo was the one who came to his defense.

On September 19 last year, at the 'Democratic Party 20th Presidential Candidate Live Debate for Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk Regions' held at the Gwangju MBC building, she said, "It is very pathetic that even the opposition party, the media, and former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon are trying to drag Governor Lee Jae-myung into personal corruption."

Regarding the Daejang-dong allegations, she defended candidate Lee, saying, "It is true that the project, which almost transferred all development profits to private interests, changed its open method so that private and public sectors shared the development profits equally."

On the afternoon of September 19 last year, Chu Mi-ae, then a preliminary candidate, was speaking at the Democratic Party presidential candidate debate held at the Gwangju MBC Public Hall in Nam-gu, Gwangju. Candidate Chu actively defended Lee Jae-myung, saying, "Why direct the arrows of anger at our party's candidate?" / Photo by Yonhap News

She added, "The continued raising of the Daejang-dong allegations seems to be an election strategy by the opposition party to cover up former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl's national disgrace incident," emphasizing, "Should we just follow whatever the media says? Why is the anger directed at candidate Lee, our party's candidate? This is a cartel problem of power and financial capital seeking unearned income, and as the suspicions grow due to the People Power Party and conservative media, the Yoon Seok-youl national disgrace incident is ultimately being covered up."

When candidate Lee expressed on the 22nd of last month during a direct speech, "The fear of the prosecution republic is not just passing wind. If I lose this election, I think they will fabricate crimes and put me in prison," former Minister Choo actively sympathized.

In a post on her Facebook at the time, she argued, "(Candidate Lee's words) are not baseless. If Yoon Seok-youl and Kim Kun-hee win the presidential election, a terrifying situation will occur where prosecutorial power is used to maintain their power and cover up their misdeeds."

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