'My Way' Lee Jun-seok, 'Lee Jae-myung's Son Risk' Criticism

[Financial News] Lee Jun-seok, the candidate of the Reform New Party, who rejected the unification request of Kim Moon-su, the presidential candidate of the People's Power, and embarked on a full schedule for the presidential election, officially brought out the 'family risk' targeting Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, on the first day of early voting on the 29th.
On the 27th, during a TV debate, the focus of crude remarks targeting women's bodies was shifted to Lee Jae-myung's son, highlighting the 'family risk' as a strategy to influence public opinion. As the Democratic Party and the People's Power actively jumped into the controversy, the dispute has further inflated.
On this day, Lee Jun-seok held an emergency press conference in the morning and mentioned the past online expressions and criminal records of Lee Jae-myung's eldest son, Lee Dong-ho, saying, "We cannot confuse the public again with the names Kim Hye-kyung and Lee Dong-ho. We must not repeat Yoon Seok-yeol's failure."
He continued, "The expression in question is not something I created, but part of a post directly uploaded by Lee Jae-myung's eldest son, Lee Dong-ho, on an online community," explaining, "A candidate who talks about human rights should have rightly confirmed what judgment is made on such expressions, and Lee Jae-myung should have confirmed what sense of responsibility he has for his family's deviation."
He then criticized, "The most serious problem is Lee Jae-myung," adding, "Lee Dong-ho has committed illegal gambling over 700 times, totaling 2.3 billion won, for nearly two years, in addition to low-level hate expressions."
As Lee Jun-seok heated up the debate like this, the two major parties also jumped in. The day before, the Democratic Party, which filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, claiming that Lee Jun-seok's 'chopstick remark' violated the Public Official Election Act, countered, "It is a false fact spread for the purpose of defeat."
Cho Seung-rae, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee, said in a briefing that day, "The expression itself was created as a result of low-quality obscene attacks, and regardless of whether the candidate's son made the statement, changing the gender to ask a question related to misogyny is false."
On the other hand, the People's Power aligned with Lee Jun-seok's claim, saying, "The person involved should apologize."
Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader, said, "If Lee Jun-seok, who quoted the problematic statement, committed verbal violence and misogyny, then Lee Jae-myung's son, who actually did it, is the perpetrator of hate violence," adding, "Isn't it Lee Jae-myung, who constantly causes family-related controversies, who should resign immediately?"
As the controversy over Lee Jae-myung's son unfolded like this, not only Lee Jun-seok but also the Democratic Party and the People's Power actively responded, which in turn seems to have amplified the controversy.
Lee Jun-seok also met with reporters at the campaign site in Pangyo, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, that afternoon, saying, "Lee Jae-myung is consistently covering up his family's bad behavior," and "I think it is right for Lee Jae-myung to apologize instead of blurring the message like this."

jhyuk@fnnews.com Kim Jun-hyuk Reporter