◀ Anchor ▶
New Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok, who made a ‘surprising revelation’ that President Yoon Seok-yeol had intervened in some nominations for the 2022 local elections when he was president-elect, continued his revelations as if he had made up his mind for two days in a row.
The story of President Yoon’s involvement in the mayoral nomination was disclosed in more detail, saying, “I met First Lady Kim Kun-hee during the nomination process for the mayor of Pohang.”
Here, President Yoon said that he “showed his anger” by listening to the opinion of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Chairman and pressuring the nomination of a specific person.
This is reporter Ji-in Kim’s report.
◀ Report ▶
This is a recording of a phone call between Lee Jun-seok, then leader of the People Power Party, and First Lady Kim Geon-hee in April 2022, released by .
[이준석/당시 국민의힘 대표-김건희 여사(2022년 4월경)]
“Shall I buy you something delicious for dinner? Oh, then come. Sure.”
New Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok, who made a ‘surprising revelation’ on his way home from an overseas business trip, saying, “President Yoon Seok-yeol intervened in the People Power Party’s local election nominations,” continued his revelation by volunteering for a meeting.
It is said that at that time, he met with First Lady Kim Kun-hee over the issue of nomination for Pohang mayor.
[이준석/개혁신당 의원]
“Information has come in that a certain person is going around Pohang saying, ‘He will be nominated’ because he is close to First Lady Kim Kun-hee…”
A prospective candidate made it sound like he would be nominated because he was close to First Lady Kim Kun-hee, and said he met with First Lady Kim to confirm if it was true.
[이준석/개혁신당 의원]
“He said, ‘I need to talk to the person in question to confirm,’ and I urgently asked, ‘Where are you now?’ This is not something to discuss over the phone…”
However, the specific conversation with Mrs. Kim was not made public.
It was claimed that President Yoon also intervened in the Pohang mayoral nomination process.
At the time, President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, who heard the story from the Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Chairman, claimed, “He protested and demanded to hear what the Provincial Party Chairman said.”
[이준석/개혁신당 의원]
“For me, it is very unusual for the president-elect to speak to me in such a hostile manner…”
However, when the Central Party decided on the primary, it was explained that the person who showed off his close relationship with Mrs. Kim was not nominated.
Rep. Kim Jeong-jae of the People Power Party, who was the chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Committee at the time, refuted, saying, “The provincial party chairman cannot discuss nominations with the president and his wife.”
Rep. Lee Jun-seok repeatedly called for an explanation directly from President Yoon.
[이준석/개혁신당 의원]
“I hope the president will say no for once.”
The President’s Office did not provide any specific position.
This is Ji-in Kim from MBC News.
Video coverage: Kim Dong-se / Video editing: Kim Jae-seok
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