Yoon on Nomination Interference Allegations: "Cannot Meddle in Nominations"

"Busy During President-Elect Period... Couldn't Pay Attention to Nomination"
"No Reason to Manipulate Since Polls Were Good"

President Yoon Suk-yeol explained the allegations of his interference in the 2022 National Assembly by-election candidate nomination, which surfaced through a recorded phone call with Mr. Myeong Tae-gyun, by saying, "I could not have interfered in the candidate nomination process conducted by the party."

On the 7th, citizens are watching President Yoon Suk-yeol's press conference in the waiting room of Seoul Station, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyeong

At a press conference held at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 7th, President Yoon said, "Unlike the general election where a talent recruitment committee is formed and candidates are scored through screening, the candidates for by-elections are almost always predetermined," clarifying that he did not intervene in the nomination process and that the party oversaw it.

President Yoon emphasized, "During the time I was president-elect, I was so busy that I had to conduct interviews for appointments of ministerial and vice-ministerial level officials until 2 a.m. at my residence, busier than a high school senior preparing for college entrance exams," and added, "At that time, I thought the nomination committee chairman was Secretary General Jeong Jin-seok, but it was actually Representative Yoon Sang-hyun. That shows how little interest I had in the party's candidate nominations."

He further stated, "On the contrary, while the party was conducting the nominations, some senior lawmakers called me asking for favorable consideration, but even in those cases, I only spoke about principles and never told anyone to nominate a particular candidate," and said, "I don't know if the recording Mr. Myeong released was a phone call or a Telegram conversation, but I only said 'thank you for your hard work' and have no memory of discussing nominations."

He added, "If I had done so, the candidates would probably have already been almost finalized at that time, and there were no other options. The party also concluded the process through the nomination committee and the Supreme Council with strategic nominations," and said, "In the past, even if the president spoke, it didn't mean things would be decided. As president-elect, I really didn't have the time to deal with candidate nominations."

President Yoon also addressed allegations related to opinion polls involving Mr. Myeong. He said, "I never asked Mr. Myeong Tae-gyun to conduct any opinion polls," and added, "Since the opinion polls showed favorable results, there was no reason to manipulate them. I have never done such a thing in my life."

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