Taeyoungho "Leak of Recording and Split Donation Suspicion, Request for Investigation of Leaker"

Assemblyman Tae Claims Accounting Staff Embezzled Several Million Won

On the 6th, Tae Young-ho, a member of the People Power Party, who has been embroiled in the ‘recording scandal,’ announced that he will request an investigation into the leak of recordings that sparked controversy over the presidential office’s ‘nomination interference’ and the leak of personal information of donors related to the ‘split donations’ allegations.

Tae Young-ho, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly on the 3rd regarding the recording scandal and allegations of splitting donations. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In a press release on the same day, Tae’s office stated, "We plan to request an investigation into the recording of internal office meetings, the external leak of these recordings, and the external leak of personal information of political donation supporters."

The controversy arose after Tae’s voice recording was released through the media on the 1st of this month, in which he claimed that Lee Jin-bok, the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs of the presidential office, requested him to make remarks defending Korea-Japan relations while mentioning nomination issues.

Tae was also embroiled in allegations that he received political donations from local council members in his constituency in exchange for nominations in the local elections. It is alleged that Tae received donations from city and district council members elected in Seoul Gangnam Gap around the last local elections, and that these donations were made under the names of the council members themselves, their families, and acquaintances. Tae is scheduled for a disciplinary review by the party’s Ethics Committee on the 8th regarding the ‘recording leak scandal.’

In the press release, Tae also stated that it was confirmed that an office staff member responsible for accounting embezzled several million won worth of political funds and expenses, and purchased a coffee machine with public funds and took it home.

He also claimed that it was confirmed that the staff member forged and stamped Tae’s seal to arbitrarily prepare an expense payment request form and submitted it to the National Assembly Secretariat.

Tae said, "Recently, illegal acts such as embezzlement in the office, disclosure of official secrets, forgery of official documents, and violation of the Personal Information Protection Act have occurred in the office, and we plan to report the internal staff member who committed these illegal acts to the police."

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