Police Decide Not to Refer Jeon Han-gil for Distorting and Spreading President Lee’s Remarks on Sexual Minorities
- Input
- 2025-11-27 15:32:10
- Updated
- 2025-11-27 15:32:10
On the 27th, the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station announced that Jeon, who was under investigation for violating the Public Official Election Act after uploading a YouTube video titled 'Lee Jaemyung, Legislation of Anti-Discrimination Law and 30% Sexual Minority Hiring in Public Institutions,' will not be referred to prosecution.
On May 7, a 30-second video was uploaded to Jeon Han-gil’s YouTube channel, Jeon Hangil News, featuring a 2017 event where then-Mayor of Seongnam, President Lee, spoke about raising the hiring ratio of women in public or financial institutions. Hashtags such as '#sexual minority' and '#queer' were also attached.
The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) stated, 'A video was produced and distributed that distorted and manipulated President Lee’s remarks to make it appear as though he said that more than 30% of public institution hires would be sexual minorities.' On May 27, the DPK filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA), alleging the dissemination of false information for the purpose of election interference under the Public Official Election Act.
Kim Gipyo, a member of the DPK’s Election Law Support Team at the time, explained that President Lee’s statement in the video, 'We will ensure that sexual minorities account for more than 30%,' actually referred to women, who are a social minority, exceeding 30%.
During an investigation in August, Jeon Han-gil explained that the video was uploaded by an employee, not himself, and that the video accurately reflected President Lee’s remarks, so it was not false information. The police found no evidence that Jeon instructed the employee to upload the video and decided to refer only the employee for prosecution without detention.
psh@fnnews.com Park Seong-hyun Reporter