Controversy Between Ruling and Opposition Over 'Ehwahyoung Persuasion Theory'... "How Could It Be for Someone Who Is Detained?"

Pressure from Ruling Party's Conciliation Rumors Raises Opposition's Counter-Conciliation Claims
Controversy Grows Over Lee Hwa-young's Refusal to Request Meeting

Former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young reversed her statement about reporting former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Seong-tae's North Korea remittance to then-Gyeonggi Governor and current Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, only to reverse it again, prompting the ruling party to raise allegations of 'coercion.'

In response, the Democratic Party denied the claims as "not true" and instead accused the prosecution of coercing the former deputy governor.

Kim Young-jin, a key pro-Lee (친명) Democratic Party lawmaker, denied the coercion allegations on the 26th during SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' when asked by the host if he had met with Lee's family, stating, "There is absolutely no such fact."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Jang Ye-chan, the Youth Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, raised suspicions on his social media, asking, "I ask Representative Kim: Is it true that you recently met with the former deputy governor's side? If yes, please say yes; if not, say no." He added, "If the former deputy governor, who testified about the North Korea remittance, was coerced by a close aide of Representative Lee Jae-myung, that itself would be a serious judicial scandal."

In response, Representative Kim said, "Councilor Jang mentioned my name as if asking a question, but that method is the worst form of agitation," adding, "How does Councilor Jang know so well about the prosecution's investigation, and yet mention my name? This itself is a leak of investigation information resulting from improper dealings among the government, ruling party, prosecution, Representative Kim Ki-hyun, and Councilor Jang."

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won also denied the 'Lee Hwa-young coercion theory' on the same day during BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal,' saying, "If a detained person was coerced, those in power would know; who would know what was done by sending someone?" He added, "Is it that Representative Lee sent someone to coerce a detained person? Don't they have records themselves? Saying such baseless things without any evidence is truly inappropriate."

The Democratic Party, on the contrary, claims that the prosecution is coercing the former deputy governor to reverse her statements.

Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woong-rae explained the controversy over Lee's statement reversal on YTN's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon' that day, saying, "Lee's wife says there has been coercion and threats from the prosecution, and that this is happening due to anti-human rights fabricated investigations worse than those during past military dictatorships."

Roh added, "Ultimately, there is suspicion that the political prosecution is trying to request Representative Lee's arrest by August to ensure the ruling party's victory in the general election according to a scenario."

Requests by Democratic Party lawmakers to meet with the former deputy governor amid the coercion allegations were repeatedly denied. The Democratic Party protested, saying, "The prosecution is obstructing the fact-finding investigation." The party's Human Rights Committee and Legal Committee issued a statement that day, saying, "The former deputy governor is under investigation for unrelated charges and is being coerced to give testimony fitting the 'North Korea visit expense payment' frame," and demanded, "Immediately stop the blatant obstruction of the fact-finding investigation by refusing visitation."

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