Won Hee-ryong: "Alternative route was also proposed by the opposition... Are you saying the opposition tried to give special favors to Kim Gun-hee?"

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong confronted the opposition party after they criticized his announcement to completely scrap the Seoul-Yangpyeong highway project, which has been embroiled in allegations of preferential treatment for the family of First Lady Kim Geon-hee. He stated, "The alternative route has been continuously advocated by the Democratic Party as well," standing firm against the opposition.

On the 7th, Minister Won posted on his social media, "Whether it was Democratic Party-affiliated county governors or regional council heads, they have all demanded the installation of Gangha IC along the current alternative route," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the Seoul-Yangpyeong highway project, Minister Won had announced the complete cancellation of the project the day before, following the opposition's criticism that the original route was changed to grant preferential treatment to the First Lady's family.

He raised his voice, saying, "After the 2021 preliminary feasibility study results, Democratic Party local figures also advocated and promoted the need for route changes. You can find this out just by searching. If we follow the Democratic Party's argument, does that mean the Democratic Party also tried to give preferential treatment to First Lady Kim Geon-hee in 2021?"

He added, "If the Democratic Party does it, it's a long-awaited project for residents, but if the Yoon Seok-yeol administration does it, it's preferential treatment? This is blatant hypocrisy (naeromambul: romance if I do it, scandal if others do it)."

The opposition claims that Minister Won was aware that the alternative route passes through land owned by the First Lady's family. In response, he said, "There is also fake news spreading that I knew the alternative route passed through land owned by First Lady Kim Geon-hee's family. This is an absurd claim," adding, "The discussion about 'land shape alteration' during the 2022 National Assembly audit has absolutely no connection to the alternative route. This is persistently malicious."

He stated, "No matter how much the truth is revealed, due to such fake news and baseless allegations, it has become impossible to proceed with the project normally," explaining, "This is why I made the difficult decision to scrap the project."

He further said, "The Democratic Party has incited the public with fake news and rumors from the mad cow disease issue to the Cheonan sinking, THAAD, and now this route change, causing enormous national damage, yet they have never properly apologized," and added, "With this opportunity, I will make it clear that they can no longer incite the public or obstruct state affairs with fake news and rumors."

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