The Democratic Party of Korea is intensifying its offensive against Hong Joon-pyo, a candidate for the People Power Party's presidential primary. The party claims that Hong conducted illegal opinion polls during the Daegu mayoral primary with political broker Myung Tae-kyun and is considering filing a complaint for violations of the Political Funds Act.
On the morning of the 21st, the Democratic Party of Korea held a press conference at the National Assembly titled 'Condemnation of the illegal verification of the People Power Party's 2022 Daegu mayoral primary' related to Hong. Attendees included Kang Hye-kyung and Kim Tae-yeol, who worked at the opinion poll agency run by Myung.
The Democratic Party of Korea raised allegations that Hong made illegal opinion polls during the People Power Party's Daegu mayoral primary and paid 37 million won to the opinion poll agency Future Korea Research Institute run by Myung. Specifically, the allegations include ▲ illegally obtaining party member lists and requesting illegal opinion polls ▲ conducting illegal surveys by 'mixing party member list numbers' ▲ illegal opinion polling after identifying support tendencies ▲ paying 37 million won to the Future Korea Research Institute ▲ illegally acquiring voter information during the 2020 general election.
Rep. Seo Young-kyoo, head of the Myung Tae-kyun Gate investigation team of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated at the press conference, 'The issues related to Myung began to be revealed last year when Kang Hye-kyung came out and spoke during the National Assembly audit,' adding, 'Hong is connected with Myung through his ties as the governor of Gyeongsangnam-do, a member of the National Assembly, and a presidential candidate.'
The Democratic Party of Korea held a meeting of the Myung Tae-kyun Gate investigation team at the National Assembly that afternoon, increasing pressure on Hong. Members of the investigation team shouted slogans such as 'Immediately ban the departure of those involved in Hong Joon-pyo's opinion polling payments.'
The Democratic Party of Korea plans to file a complaint against Hong for violations of the Political Funds Act and the Personal Information Protection Act. Rep. Seo noted, 'We have already prepared the complaint.' He further stated, 'Given the current situation, we must ask again whether Hong is publicly denying meeting with Myung or whether he actually never met him.'
The Hong Joon-pyo camp immediately issued a statement in response. Spokesperson Lee Seong-bae remarked, 'Kang Hye-kyung and Kim Tae-yeol, who warned Myung not to lie publicly, are considered whistleblowers by the Democratic Party,' emphasizing, 'If there are suspicions, they will be clarified through investigation.'
He then challenged, 'Do you think Lee Jae-myung, who is a candidate who has verbalized abuse that could not be uttered to his older brother, a candidate who has not resolved suspicions of an affair with a famous actress, a candidate who impersonated a prosecutor and went as far as impersonating the president, and a candidate with a criminal history of four offenses and five trials for corruption, is qualified to be president?'
The Democratic Party of Korea appears to be intensifying its offensive regarding the Myung Tae-kyun Gate to keep Hong in check ahead of the early presidential election. Rep. Seo emphasized, 'Investigations related to this issue have come to a halt, and we strongly condemn whether the prosecution is deliberately stopping the investigation.'