Lee Jun-seok "Where is the hate in my question... Verification of presidential candidate's family is an extension of public responsibility"

[Financial News]  Lee Jun-seok, the Reform New Party presidential candidate, stated regarding the so-called 'chopstick remark' controversy, "My question was not mere provocation but a step-by-step verification."

On the 29th, candidate Lee held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly, saying, "Verification of a presidential candidate's family is not a matter of privacy but an extension of public responsibility."

Candidate Lee directly mentioned the sexual harassment comments allegedly written by candidate Lee Jae-myung's son during the third TV debate on the 27th and asked Kwon Young-guk, the Democratic Labor Party presidential candidate, for his position.

In response, the Democratic Party stated, "This is a hate speech directed at candidate Lee Jae-myung, his family, and all voters, and it is a very serious violation of the Public Official Election Act," and filed a complaint against candidate Lee Jun-seok with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for violating the Public Official Election Act.

Candidate Lee said, "I replaced one of Mr. Lee Dong-ho's (Lee Jae-myung's son) posts with relatively value-neutral words, but the expressions were so severely obscene that there were limits even after refining and purifying them," and "Mr. Lee Dong-ho committed illegal gambling over 700 times in nearly two years, totaling 2.3 billion won," he directly criticized.

He then pointed out, "If candidate Lee Jae-myung was unaware of this, it would be either indifference or incompetence," and questioned, "Is such a person really qualified to lead the country?"

Candidate Lee raised his voice, saying, "I will ask from the perspective of common sense, where is the hate in my question? Who really deserves to be condemned as a sex offender?"

He continued, "When candidate Lee Jae-myung gains even more powerful authority, the future we will face is one where freedom of expression and the duty of verification disappear, leaving only collective lynching and loyalty to power, and I will not succumb," he emphasized.

He added, "By 2 PM today, those who have spread or posted false information about me on broadcasts and the internet should voluntarily delete it and publicly apologize," warning, "Otherwise, I will take strong civil and criminal action."

newssu@fnnews.com Kim Soo-yeon reporter