"Is It True You Bought Fruit with a Corporate Card?"... Han Dong-hoon Intensifies Offensive Against Lee Jae-myung

"Is It True You Decided on Emergency Helicopter Privileges Yourself?" and Other Questions
Drastic Measures on University Tuition Fees Expected Soon

Han Dong-hoon, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, intensified his offensive after the Lunar New Year holiday by raising suspicions about Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding the use of corporate credit cards. Chairman Han also criticized Lee by mentioning his past use of profanity in response to the lack of apology over Rep. Woo Sang-ho's profanity controversy during a broadcast.

On the 13th, at the People Power Party headquarters during an Emergency Response Committee meeting, Chairman Han said, "I will ask a few questions on behalf of the people," and asked, "Is it true that Leader Lee bought 10 million won worth of fruit with public corporate credit cards?" He added, "I saw in a past broadcast that his dream was to put fruit in the refrigerator and eat it, but no matter what, I want to ask if it is not wrong to fulfill that wish with taxpayers' money." Furthermore, he pointed out, "There are suspicions that he used corporate credit cards for ancestral rites during past holidays; is that true? Did he not do it this time?" He also asked, "Is it true that the preferential treatment regarding emergency helicopters was his decision?" and "I want to ask why he said he would ride the helicopter."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding Rep. Woo's profanity on the broadcast, Chairman Han mentioned the lack of follow-up measures such as party-level apologies, which were customary in past political practices, saying, "Since everything is based on Leader Lee's standards, I think it is a dilemma where apologies or criticisms cannot be made because the level of profanity he used toward his family in the past is lower." He criticized, "Leader Lee lowered the nomination standards so he could escape, and it seems that even the moral standards are all based on what Leader Lee has done, which is regrettable."

On the same day, while asking for putting the party before personal interests regarding former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sung-tae’s cut-off, Chairman Han made remarks implying Leader Lee. He said, "Unlike others, former lawmaker Kim truly went on a hunger strike," and mentioned, "The purpose of the hunger strike itself was not to protect himself like others but had the justification of protecting democracy."

Meanwhile, Chairman Han confirmed that they are discussing a drastic reduction plan for university tuition fees. Referring to media reports, he said, "There have been reports about a drastic party-government support policy for university tuition," and added, "I confirm that the party and government are effectively discussing a drastic tuition reduction plan for university students. We will soon announce meaningful measures." According to these media reports, the People Power Party, the government, and the Presidential Office held a high-level party-government meeting on the 14th of last month to explore expanding the scope of national scholarship support and extending the freeze on interest rates and exemption of interest on student loans previously provided to low-income groups.

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