Presidential Office Calls Kim Eui-gyeom's Claims About Yoon and Han's Movements "Completely Fabricated Fiction"

Rep. Kim Claims "Yoon and Han Had Drinks with Kim & Chang Lawyers at a Gangnam High-End Bar in July"
Presidential Office States "Kim Spreading False Information Expecting Immunity... Demands Statement and Apology"
Minister Han Says "Insulting Cabinet Members with Baseless Rumors"

On the 16th, one day before President Yoon Seok-yeol's 100th day in office, the Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul is shown. President Yoon, emphasizing the elimination of authoritarianism, moved the stage of state affairs from the former Blue House to Yongsan. With the president's office relocated to Yongsan, the Blue House has been fully opened to the public. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 24th, the Presidential Office dismissed as a "completely fabricated novel" the allegations raised by Kim Ui-gyeom, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, that President Yoon Seok-yeol and Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon had a drinking party with lawyers from Kim & Chang law firm at a high-end bar.

Lee Jae-myung, deputy spokesperson for the Presidential Office, stated in a written briefing distributed to reporters in the afternoon, "Representative Kim has presented a completely fabricated novel regarding the movements of the President and the Minister of Justice."

He added, "Spreading false information without any basis by relying on parliamentary immunity is not the attitude of a responsible politician," criticizing the act.

Deputy Spokesperson Lee addressed Representative Kim, saying, "If you are confident in the facts, please speak outside the National Assembly," and added, "We demand a clear statement and apology from Representative Kim for lying to the public."

During the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Justice and others by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which convened late in the afternoon, Representative Kim raised suspicions that Minister Han and President Yoon had a late-night drinking party with about 30 lawyers from Kim & Chang at a high-end bar over two days, July 19-20.

Representative Kim claimed this implied that the drinking party actually took place and played a recorded phone conversation of Lee Se-chang, former acting president of the Federation of Korean Associations.

He also played a voice-modulated recording of another individual who allegedly attended the drinking party. Representative Kim mentioned, "This informant reported themselves as a public whistleblower to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission."

The recording included statements such as, "Han Dong-hoon and Yoon Seok-yeol all came to drink and sing, and they said, 'VIP is coming in,' and that was at 1 a.m. The 'Dongbaek Lady' was done by Yoon Seok-yeol," among other content.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Representative Kim also conveyed that a YouTube media outlet planned to report on this tip-off that night. Earlier, Minister Han had filed a lawsuit against a YouTuber affiliated with that media outlet, claiming he was stalked and followed after work.

While listening to the recording, Minister Han began his response by saying, "What did I do? Why is the (recording) not playing after this?" He expressed strong displeasure, stating, "If I had been at that place or within 1 km of it, I would stake something on it. I feel ashamed to be insulted as a cabinet member by colluding with someone who stalks to this extent."

When Representative Kim presented the recording of the 'informant' as evidence, Minister Han retorted, "Are those two people the ones colluding with that YouTube media? Is Representative Kim Ui-gyeom behind that stalking?" He then added, "I will stake everything, including my position as Minister of Justice and any future public office. What will you stake, Representative?"

Minister Han particularly emphasized, "You insulted a cabinet member at the National Assembly audit with something that is not even at the level of a rumor."

When Representative Kim said, "Lee Se-chang said he saw it," Minister Han responded, "Are you just shouting after hearing only this much? Are you going to ask this as the first question when the audit has been postponed? Take responsibility. I will also take responsibility. I will definitely demand an apology," reiterating his stance.

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