Minju: "Audio Evidence Emerges of Kim Geon-hee's Nomination Interference... Calls for Thorough Investigation"

The Democratic Party of Korea on the 25th urged a thorough investigation, stating, "A voice recording has emerged as evidence that First Lady Kim Geon-hee intervened in the nomination of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun."

Mrs. Kim Keon-hee. Yonhap News

The party's Myeong Tae-gyun Gate Investigation Team held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly that day, responding to the weekly magazine Sisain's report on the phone conversations between First Lady Kim and political broker Myeong Tae-gyun. They stated, "If a powerful figure intervenes in nominations, it is illegal and grounds for impeachment."

Seo Young-kyo, the head of the investigation team, said, "According to the party that disclosed the information, the USB containing content about the First Lady's involvement in state affairs manipulation was delivered to the Yongsan Presidential Office, and it is said that President Yoon Seok-yeol and the First Lady discussed it," adding, "Could that have led to the declaration of martial law?"

Regarding reporters' pointed out that there is a gap of more than three weeks between the time the USB file was delivered to the Yongsan Presidential Office and the December 3 emergency martial law, Representative Seo said, "There are several cases, including the prosecution investigation report completed on November 4 last year," and added, "All investigations would have been reported daily to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and it is a reasonable suspicion that it ended up in President Yoon's hands."

She continued, "President Yoon reportedly held two meetings at the official residence on November 8 and 28 last year with former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, discussing the need to urgently devise countermeasures related to Myeong Tae-gyun, so we could not help but connect this to martial law," she added.

The investigation team also played the recorded phone call reported by Sisain at the press conference. According to the recording, First Lady Kim said, "The elected candidate just called and said not to use his name, just push it through," and asked, "Kwon Seong-dong and Yoon Han-hong are opposing it, right?"

Myeong replied, "It seems he pressured Yoon Sang-hyun, saying it was the elected candidate's will," to which First Lady Kim responded, "Anyway, don't worry too much. It will go well," and added, "It will succeed, so let's watch."

Myeong then said, "Thank you. I will not forget. I will see you tomorrow," and First Lady Kim replied, "Yes, sir."

The investigation team claimed that the recording contains evidence that First Lady Kim tried to secure the nomination for former lawmaker Kim in the June 2022 by-elections. At that time, People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun was the head of the party's nomination management committee.

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