Democratic Party defines disclosure of Rep. Han Dong-hoon's recording as an 'obvious serious crime'

Kim Seung-won's 'new drug solicitation' record released, "obviously a serious crime"

“It’s just a public interest grievance… Stop the groundless black propaganda.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Jae-ha and Oh Gyu-jin = On the 6th, the Democratic Party of Korea launched a counterattack by raising questions about the circumstances of obtaining the recording of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who has been disclosing the recording of Justice Minister candidate Kim Seung-won on suspicion of 'requesting new drugs'.

Spokesperson Jo Gye-won said in a written briefing that day, "Please reveal in detail the circumstances of obtaining illegal recordings and investigation materials and apologize to the public."

Spokesperson Cho pointed out, “Recordings of private calls can only be released through limited channels, such as the parties themselves or investigative agencies,” and added, “If there is an illegality in the circumstances of the acquisition and leak, it can be a clear crime.”

He went on to say, “Rep. Han’s words and what he revealed through social media sufficiently meet the requirements to constitute a crime,” and added, “They say they will continue to disclose recordings and investigation materials, and the more they do so, the more serious the criminal charges against Rep. Han will become.”

He also added, "The method of collecting cases in the cabinet and picking a point in time to bring them out is an old practice of political prosecution," and added, "The answer to Han Dong-hoon's style of cabinet politics, which practices bad politics that harms people in the National Assembly, is to be expelled."

Rep. Kim Dong-ah also said at a press conference on the same day that the release of Rep. Han's recording was "a clear leak of official secrets, public disclosure of suspect facts, and a serious crime that violates the Personal Information Protection Act and the Public Records Management Act," and announced that he would report Rep. Han and the unnamed provider who gave him the investigation records to the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office.

However, Rep. Kim said, “We have not officially discussed this accusation with the party or the candidate.”

The Democratic Party, along with a lawmaker, also began criticizing the People Power Party, which launched an offensive against candidate Kim, saying, "Do verification, not hunting."

Spokesperson Jeon Eun-soo emphasized, “The People Power Party is ignoring the facts and is pushing candidate Kim (who received a suspended indictment) as if he was already confirmed guilty of bribery,” adding, “Stop groundless black propaganda and labeling him a criminal immediately.”

Spokesperson Shin Hyun-young also said that Candidate Kim's actions fall under the 'public interest complaint' permitted under the Anti-Graft Act and urged, "Immediately stop the political offensive that turns public interest complaints, which were delivered out of concern about the burden on the public and leakage of national wealth during a national crisis, into 'improper solicitation' and 'poison drug lobbying.'"