No Woong-rae Raided: "Clear Political Retaliation... A Signal of Opposition Lawmaker Suppression"

Statement Made at Press Conference the Day After Search and Seizure
Regarding Bribery Allegations Against Park Mo, "I Have Never Met Him"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] No Woong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly criticized the prosecution's search and seizure of lawmakers' offices as a "political revenge investigation," calling it "a signal flare of oppression against opposition party lawmakers."

On the 17th, the day after the prosecution's search and seizure, Rep. No held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and claimed, "I have no acquaintance with Park Mo, who was named by the prosecution as a bribe giver." He further harshly criticized, "The office search and seizure conducted by the prosecution under Yoon Seok-yeol and Han Dong-hoon is a political revenge, a planned investigation, and a fabricated investigation carried out solely because I am an opposition party lawmaker."

The previous afternoon, the prosecution conducted a search and seizure of Rep. No's office in the National Assembly Members' Office Building and his Mapo-gu constituency office on charges of bribery and violation of the Political Funds Act, securing related materials. Rep. No is accused of receiving 60 million won along with a request from businessman Park Mo in 2020, and Park is a figure who allegedly provided money to Lee Jeong-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, in exchange for a request.

On this day, Rep. No expressed that he is not acquainted with Park Mo and that there is no work-related connection between the request cited by the prosecution and his legislative activities. He said, "I only met the person said to be his wife a few times at a volunteer organization, but I do not even know the face of Park Mo, who supposedly gave the money." He also stated, "According to the search warrant, it is claimed that I received money in exchange for facilitating solar power projects, but I was a member of the Environment and Labor Committee, which has nothing to do with solar power," and criticized, "I cannot help but suspect that this is an attempt to hold the previous administration accountable for corruption and responsibility."

He predicted that this search and seizure would be the beginning of investigations into other Democratic Party lawmakers. He also said that the prosecution would eventually pressure former President Moon Jae-in and party leader Lee Jae-myung. Rep. No said, "The prosecution under Yoon Seok-yeol and Han Dong-hoon will start with me and move toward former President Moon and Leader Lee," condemning, "This is a clear political revenge and oppression of the opposition party."

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