Lee Jun-seok and Joo Jin-woo clash over Jeong I-han's alleged staged attack, with Lee saying he suspects a People Power Party plot and Joo calling it a distraction

[Financial News] The former Reform Party candidate for mayor of Busan, Jeong I-han, has been detained on charges of staging a so-called attack, and Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok and People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo have traded sharp words over the case.
On the 11th, Lee criticized the situation on his Facebook page, saying, "Jeong I-han is someone who worked as a staff aide in the People Power Party, and I don't know who in the People Power Party engineered this during the election or why these moths are swarming around."
He added, "I'm not staying silent because I don't know who in the People Power Party approached Jeong I-han and planted strange thoughts in him," and stressed, "I have no intention of tolerating this kind of shameless reversal of blame." He went on to say, "If someone in a candidate's camp made Jeong I-han a strange offer, then you are finished."
In another Facebook post, Lee said, "Between May 19 and May 20, when lawmaker Joo Jin-woo asked Secretary-General Lee Ki-in for an explanation, Reform Party figures could not contact candidate Jeong I-han," adding, "That was because he had cut off all communication and announced only a press conference for the next day without consulting anyone in the party."
He continued, "The Reform Party's internal rules prevented any candidate from taking part in talks on unification, so that must have been why he did it," and added, "As for what prompted candidate Jeong I-han to decide to pursue unification, who created that trigger on which side, and what happened at the moment he became convinced, we also pieced it together only afterward from fragments we heard indirectly."
Lee also said, "If you look at the clues in the fact that People Power Party figures and candidate Jeong I-han were in very active contact during that period, Joo Jin-woo's questions about those dates will be answered," adding, "If lawmaker Joo contacts me personally, I am willing to explain that part as well."
Earlier, Joo said he would file a criminal complaint against the police command line in charge on charges including abuse of authority, dereliction of duty, and violations of the Public Official Election Act, in connection with media reports that police knew about Jeong's staged attack before the June 3 local elections.
In response to Lee's attack, Joo posted an article on his Facebook page titled, "The Reform Party's survival depends on Jeong I-han's staged act; Lee Jun-seok should not try to distract from it."
Joo said, "They lost the Busan mayoral election because of Jeong I-han's fake show," and added, "If the staged incident had been known before voting day, Reform Party candidates would have received almost no votes in places like Ulsan and Seoul as well. The Reform Party bears full responsibility."
He went on to say, "Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok raised a theory that the People Power Party engineered it. That is shamelessly turning the blame around and making deceived Busan voters even angrier," adding, "Jeong I-han's staged act took place on April 27, Secretary-General Lee Ki-in made contact on May 19, and then communication with Jeong I-han was cut off for a long period. Around that time, police said Jeong I-han confessed to all of the crimes."
He also pointed out, "Reform Party staff members were stationed at the campaign office, so how could they not know about the police investigation process? I don't understand it."
Joo urged, "If the People Power Party had known about Jeong I-han's staged act, as Lee Jun-seok claims, it would have disclosed it immediately," adding, "There was absolutely no reason to help Jeong I-han split the vote. Lee Jun-seok should stop distracting from the issue and immediately reveal what he knows."
Joo also criticized the Busan police, saying, "Political police received Jeong I-han's confession but delayed his arrest and public disclosure so he could run through the election," and added, "That was because if Jeong I-han finished the race, Democratic Party candidate Jeon Jae-soo would benefit."
He stressed, "Important cases involving terrorism are reported to higher authorities," and said, "We must determine whether this was a massive election scandal involving the police, the NIS, and the Blue House."
Meanwhile, before the clash between Lee and Joo, independent politician Han Dong-hoon also posted on Facebook on the 10th, saying, "The key issue in the staged terror incident involving the detained Reform Party candidate for mayor of Busan is when the police and the Reform Party learned it was a staged act," and argued, "Busan citizens were deceived into voting, and their voting rights were stolen."
Han said, "If it had been known before the election that the terror incident was staged, far fewer Busan citizens would have voted for the candidate, and the result of the Busan mayoral election might have changed," urging the police and the Reform Party to disclose when they learned of the staged act and take responsibility.
newssu@fnnews.com Kim Soo-yeon Reporter