Yoo In-tae: "Lee Jae-myung Seems to Consider Text Bombs as 'Seasoning' Like Moon"

"I Won't Give Full Authority to Lee Jae-myung's Innovation Committee"
"Innovation Chair? Am I Crazy?"
"Kim Nam-guk, Why Hide When There's No Illegality?"

Amid serious concerns about the 'hardcore fandom' issue within the Democratic Party of Korea, former National Assembly Secretary-General Yoo In-tae, a senior politician of the Democratic Party, pointed out that Representative Lee Jae-myung might also be considering text bombings and similar attacks as 'seasoning,' just like former President Moon Jae-in.

On the 25th, Yoo said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "The problem is that although Representative Lee is trying to restrain such remarks, he basically seems to think of them as seasoning, like former President Moon," expressing this view.

Former Secretary General of the National Assembly Yoon In-tae is giving a special lecture at the People’s Power Study Group for Public Sympathy held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 9th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

After being confirmed as the presidential candidate in 2017, former President Moon described the 18-won donations and text bombings from hardcore supporters against opposing factions as "seasoning that makes the competition more interesting," which sparked controversy.

Yoo criticized the Democratic Party's behavior of being swayed by hardcore fandom as similar to the People Power Party's past experience of being influenced by the 'asphalt right-wing.' He said, "If you look at the general elections, the People Power Party clung to those asphalt right-wing groups last time, and that's how they ended up giving us 180 seats in the 21st general election," adding, "The centrist voters and the undecided voters all left, but without any sense of crisis, they seem to think, 'That faction (hardcore fandom) is still there, supporting us, so our support remains at this level.'"

He continued, "They (People Power Party) have sorted it out. They even gave Kim Jae-won (Supreme Council member) a one-year disciplinary action to cut ties with those asphalt right-wing groups," and added, "But here (Democratic Party), they just verbally say 'don't do that, don't do that,' but it feels like they actually enjoy going along with it."

Regarding the newly established innovation body, Yoo said, "Representative Lee is unlikely to create a body with full authority and will probably try to keep it under his control, but it will be difficult to find suitable people for it now," and "Who would want to go there now?"

When the host asked, "If you were offered a position, what would you do?" Yoo replied, "Am I crazy?"

Regarding the allegations of 'money envelopes at the party convention' and the arrest warrants requested for independent lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man, Yoo said, "(The vote on the arrest warrants) will be left to a free vote, but there might be some sympathy among the lawmakers," adding, "Lawmakers will probably struggle between the fear of heavy criticism if they reject it and the sympathy they feel."

The arrest warrant motions for lawmakers Yoon and Lee are expected to be reported to the National Assembly plenary session on the 30th. Since the Democratic Party holds the majority, the approval depends largely on the choices of Democratic Party lawmakers. If rejected, the 'shielding National Assembly' frame could be strengthened, causing deep concern within the party.

Nevertheless, Yoo criticized the prosecution's request for arrest warrants, saying that 'money envelopes at party conventions are a customary practice.' Yoo said, "They didn't receive illicit money at the party convention, and there was some customary practice at that convention, right? Everyone did something like that," adding, "So is this really a matter that requires arrest? Considering the sentence, it's not a case for detention."

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