DP to File Complaint Against PPP's Kim Jaeseop Over Jung Won-oh Allegations: "Malicious Smear Campaign"

Jung's Campaign: "False Information Publicized to Defeat Opponent"

On the 13th, the Democratic Party of Korea announced its decision to file a legal complaint against Representative Kim Jaeseop of the People Power Party, who raised suspicions of "false explanations" regarding Seoul mayoral candidate Jung Won-oh's past assault case based on district council transcripts.

Jung Wonoh, the Democratic Party candidate for Seoul mayor, is entering the National Assembly communication bureau on the 13th to announce his campaign pledge. On this day, Jung pledged to reduce property taxes for single-homeowners with no income. 2026.5.13 Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The campaign team for candidate Jung stated in a press release on this day, "The Democratic Party plans to file a complaint against Representative Kim Jaeseop for violating Article 250, Paragraph 2 of the Public Official Election Act, which pertains to the dissemination of false information for the purpose of defeating an opponent."

The campaign team further argued that the October 1995 Yangcheon District Council transcript, which Representative Kim cited as the basis of his allegations, "is merely a document that records what meeting participants said verbatim, and cannot be considered objective evidence," adding, "Representative Kim’s claims are clearly false."

They continued, "Representative Kim’s assertion is nothing more than a repetition of the claims made without any basis by a district council member surnamed Jang, nine days after the incident, during a council meeting."

They further stated, "A transcript is not an 'investigation report' by law enforcement authorities. Representative Kim’s claims are clearly false," emphasizing, "By presenting the one-sided statements made by council member Jang in the transcript as if they were objective evidence supporting the facts, and by failing to verify any other grounds, Representative Kim engaged in irresponsible and malicious negative campaigning."

They added, "Representative Kim, who is also a co-chair of Oh Se-hoon's campaign, continues to spread negative attacks based on false claims," and warned, "We will take strong action against these clear falsehoods."

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