Jang Dong-hyeok of the People Power Party wrote on the 4th on Facebook, "(Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker) Kang Sun-woo must have had backing that allowed her to confidently secure a sole candidacy," adding, "A special counsel probe is needed."
Jang wrote, "If you listen to the recording of lawmakers Kim Byung-kee and Kang Sun-woo, it was a matter that should have ended quietly with Kang returning 100 million won to Kim Kyung, who was a candidate in the 2022 local elections. But the next day, a sole nomination certificate was delivered to Kim Kyung."
Jang wrote, "It is impossible to know who (Kang Sun-woo's) backer is. But it is likely someone higher up than Kim Byung-kee." He continued, "At the time, the party leader was President Lee Jae-myung," adding, "This is why a special counsel is necessary."
Earlier, allegations were raised that former Democratic Party floor leader Kim Byung-kee received money from former Dongjak District council members ahead of the 2020 general election and then returned it. Lee Soo-jin, a former lawmaker who failed to win renomination in the 2024 general election, argued that she delivered a petition containing these allegations to aide Kim Hyun-ji in President Lee Jae-myung's office, who was the party leader at the time. Rep. Kang was ordered to leave the party and expelled on the 1st over the related allegations.
On the same day, Choi Bo-yoon, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, also said in a commentary, "The Democratic Party must answer to the public why President Lee Jae-myung and Blue House First Executive Office Chief Kim Hyun-ji, after receiving the petition, did not request an investigation and instead passed it to those involved, and what the leadership was doing while bundles of cash were being exchanged in a 'Shrimp Cracker shopping bag,'" adding, "We urge the immediate acceptance of a special counsel to clearly and fully uncover the truth."