The DP raises conspiracy without any proof

The majority Democratic Party (DP) is framing the terrorist attack on its leader Lee Jae-myung last month as a conspiracy. The move has been initiated by Lee himself this time. After returning to work on Wednesday, 15 days after his hospitalization from the attack, the party leader said, “[They have been trying to] kill me with the law and later with the pen, but I never die.”

His remarks are strongly suggestive of a terrorist attack on himself by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. If Lee’s claim is true, that constitutes a shocking crime that justifies the end of the conservative government. But clearly, an extraordinary argument demands convincing evidence. But Lee never presented it. And if the “pen” the DP leader mentioned signifies the press, does it suggest that conservative media outlets were pressured by the government to criticize him whenever the chance came?

Unfortunately, the DP’s nonsense didn’t stop there. The majority party filed a complaint with the police about the counterterror situation room under the prime minister’s office intentionally downsizing the degree of his injury to related agencies. The party claimed that the length of the injury on his neck changed from 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches) to 1 centimeter in the reporting process. A “deadly weapon” in the fire department’s first report also changed to a “fruit knife,” the DP claimed. The party insists it shows the government’s scheme to downscale the repercussions of the case from the beginning. We wonder if such decisions can be seen as a conspiracy strong enough to file a complaint with the law enforcement agency.

DP Rep. Jung Chung-rae led the conspiracy theory by claiming that the police’s quick cleaning of the bloodstain on the spot was aimed at destroying the evidence. But the perpetrator was caught on the spot immediately after the attack, and his tools for the terror and other videos were also secured.
Some DP lawmakers worry that if the party overly adheres to the conspiracy theory, it can backfire. Others link the DP’s aggressive approach to the need to dilute the ongoing controversy from Lee’s unfathomable transportation to Seoul National University Hospital from Busan National University Hospital by an emergency chopper. The DP should have released a message of national harmony, not a conspiracy.

We hope the police positively consider the idea of making public the identity of the attacker after considering the severity of the issue. The police cited the tough legal requirements for the release of his personal information. But it cannot dispel public doubts over why the government is reluctant to disclose the information. It could be even better to prevent unnecessary conspiracy by releasing related information.