Lee Jae-myung's Closest Aide Kim Yong Arrested... Ruling Party Says "Who Are You Going to Ask About Kim Yong?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the 19th, Kim Yong, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute and a close aide during Lee Jae-myung's tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province, was arrested by the prosecution, prompting ruling party lawmakers to unanimously target Lee directly.

Seong Il-jong, chairman of the Policy Committee, wrote on social media (SNS) that day, "Representative Lee Jae-myung! Are you going to ask 'Who is Kim Yong?' now?" He pointed out, "You are the one who said you didn’t even know the late Kim Moon-gi, who went on an overseas trip and played golf together for 10 days. What kind of sophistry are you planning to spout this time?"

He referred to Lee’s statement last year during the 'Daejang-dong development' allegations, when Lee said that former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu was not his close aide and added, "If it’s a close aide, it should be someone like Jeong Jin-sang or Kim Yong." He said, "That Kim Yong was arrested on charges of receiving hundreds of millions of won from Yoo Dong-gyu and others. I’m already curious about what kind of reaction Representative Lee will show this time."

Lawmaker Park Soo-young also targeted Lee directly on SNS, saying, "Last year at the National Assembly audit, I exposed the 'Do-won resolution' of the main culprits of Daejang-dong. Finally, the last remaining Kim Yong has also been arrested." He added, "Since the close aides Jeong Jin-sang and Kim Yong, whom Lee himself acknowledged, have been indicted or arrested, the next turn seems clear."

Lawmaker Park Dae-chul shared a past photo of Lee and Deputy Director Kim on SNS, stating, "(Deputy Director Kim) is such a close aide that Lee called him 'someone like Jeong Jin-sang or Kim Yong if you talk about close aides' and 'a comrade who shares the same will and like an avatar.'" He added, "An avatar means a doppelganger. The original must control it to move."

Park said, "Lee once said, 'Did you really think I respected him just because I said I respected him?' This time, will he try to backpedal by saying, 'Did you really think he was a doppelganger just because I said he was'?" He criticized, "The avatar has been caught. Now he just needs to reveal 'what will they shared'."

Meanwhile, the prosecution attempted to conduct a search and seizure at the Democratic Research Institute, where Deputy Director Kim is affiliated, on the same day.

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