"Kim Man-bae, Busan Savings Bank Yoon Seok-yeol Favoritism Investigation"... People Power Party "Clear Falsehood"

Newstapa Releases Audio File Containing Claims by Kim Man-bae
People Power Party: "Kim Man-bae Is Not at All Close Enough to Call Seok-yeol 'Hyung'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Just two days before the presidential election, an audio file was released containing allegations that Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, conducted a lenient investigation related to the Busan Savings Bank case. The People Power Party announced it would take legal action, stating the claims lack credibility.

On the 6th, Newstapa released an audio file containing a conversation between Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, and his acquaintance Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Media Union, from September last year. According to the content, Kim said that during the 2011 Busan Savings Bank investigation, he introduced Park Young-soo, a former special prosecutor, to Yoon Seok-yeol, then head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's second division, at the request of broker Jo Woo-hyung. Kim stated regarding the prosecution's investigation of Jo, "Park (the chief prosecutor) gave Jo coffee, did a few things, and then let him go. So that case disappeared." He added, "It worked, they just let it slide."

In response, Lee Yang-su, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party's election campaign headquarters, said in a statement, "The allegation that Candidate Yoon conducted a 'lenient investigation' of Jo is clearly false." He emphasized, "To be clear, Candidate Yoon has no personal relationship with Kim. They are not even close enough for Kim to call him 'Seok-yeol hyung' (older brother). Most of Kim's statements are lies."

Lee further stated, "It is natural not to believe the excuses Kim made to his acquaintances before the prosecution's investigation following the media coverage of the Daejang-dong Gate. Candidate Yoon has not conducted lenient investigations of Jo or anyone related to the Busan Savings Bank case," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, introduced the recorded audio file via a YouTube video and wrote on social media, "Please widely share this vivid reality of shameless audacity and impudence. We are the media."

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