DP retaliates by filing complaint against President Yoon Suk-yeol for election law violation

Politics

Published: 05 Sep. 2022, 17:05 Updated: 05 Sep. 2022, 17:12

DP retaliates by filing complaint against President Yoon Suk-yeol for election law violation

Lawmakers of the Democratic Party (DP) speak to reporters on their way to file a complaint against President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday over allegations of spreading falsehoods in violation of the election law at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul. [NEWS1]

The Democratic Party (DP) filed a complaint against President Yoon Suk-yeol Monday for allegedly violating the election law by spreading false information, in a tit-for-tat move after its party chief was summoned by the prosecution.

The complaint was filed with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, alleging that Yoon as a presidential candidate violated the Public Office Election Act through making false statements during his campaign about stock manipulation allegations involving first lady Kim Keon-hee.

The party in an emergency party caucus later Monday further decided to push for a special probe into the first lady related to such allegations.

Prosecutors have been investigating Kwon Oh-soo, the chairman of Deutsch Motors, a BMW car dealer in Korea, over allegations of leaking insider information and mobilizing influential market players to boost the company's stock prices from December 2009 to 2012.

Last December, Kwon was arrested and indicted on charges of conspiring with stock price manipulators to inflate Deutsch Motors share prices. He was released on bail in April.

During a People Power Party (PPP) primary race debate last October, Yoon as a presidential contender denied his wife's involvement in the stock manipulation allegations.

"When President Yoon was a candidate, there was a question about his wife's stock manipulation allegations, which he denied," said DP spokesman Park Sung-joon on Monday. "Now that we can see through the facts that stock manipulation is clear, the candidate's remarks at the time can be considered as the spreading of false information."

The DP has raised allegations that Kim entrusted a Shinhan Investment account with 1 billion won ($729,000) from February to May 2010 to one such player surnamed Lee, who was also arrested for partaking in the alleged price rigging attempts.

Though the National Assembly began its 100-day regular session last week, the confrontation between the opposing parties is only expected to intensify as the DP goes on the offense against the Yoon administration and the PPP.

However, according to the election act, an investigation into Yoon is expected to be possible only after the end of his five-year term as the incumbent president.

A senior presidential official told reporters regarding the DP's complaint against the president that Yoon is "only devoting himself to the duty and role of commander-in-chief to protect the lives and safety of the people."

Later Monday afternoon, the DP held an emergency meeting to respond to the prosecution's summoning of its chief and strongly condemned "political repression" under the Yoon government.

The DP in the party caucus recommended DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung against appearing for prosecution questioning on Tuesday.

Last Thursday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office summoned Lee to appear for questioning on Tuesday over possible election law violations by spreading false information related to a land development scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, in 2015.

In a television interview last December during his presidential campaign, Lee denied knowing Kim Moon-gi, a key figure in the Daejang-dong land development project, during his time as Seongnam mayor. However, photos were released of Lee together with Kim and several other people.

Kim, the head of the Seongnam Development Corporation's project development team who had been under investigation over allegations of preferential treatment tied to the Daejang development, was found dead after committing suicide on Dec. 21.

Lee will also be questioned by Suwon prosecutors on allegations that he lied about a land development project in Baekhyeon-dong, also in Seongnam, in violation of the election law.

Lee was defeated by Yoon in the March 9 presidential election and is currently a lawmaker representing Incheon's Gyeyang-B district. He was recently elected in a party convention as the new DP leader.

The DP called the prosecution's summoning of its chairman "political retaliation" and said that as the Yoon administration has declared an "all-out war," the party will respond accordingly.

"The Yoon Suk-yeol administration must stop the political oppression of the previous government and opposition figures," Lee said in the meeting.

"I have requested the government for bipartisan cooperation for the people's livelihood through dialogue and compromise," Lee said. "The government is acting completely contrary to the expectations of the people."

He continued, "The DP will not hesitate to cooperate with the government in any way for the sake of the people's livelihood, but we will resolutely oppose any attempts of democratic regression."

Park Hong-keun, DP floor leader, said to reporters at the National Assembly, "We told Chairman Lee that it is not right for the party leader to be summoned and investigated at this point, and it is preferable to reply with a written answer."

On the special probe on first lady Kim, Park said, "At a time when the public's suspicions [related to Kim] are growing, investigative agencies are consistently going easy on her. As we are entering a stage where the suspicions cannot be alleviated, we decided to pursue a special probe."

Separately, Kim has been accused of falsified credentials on résumés she submitted for past university teaching posts and made a public apology for it last December. Civic groups in turn filed complaints against Kim, but police said Monday it will drop the investigation into the charges of falsifying her credentials.

She has also been accused of plagiarism in her doctoral dissertation and other research papers, but Kookmin University cleared her after investigating the allegations in early August.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]