Chung Jeom-sik: "Summoning Kim Jae-seop on the first day of the parliamentary audit cannot be a coincidence... It is a politically motivated investigation"

[Financial News] People Power Party floor leader Chung Jeom-sik said on the 6th that the National Police Agency's questioning of lawmaker Kim Jae-seop as a suspect was "a politically motivated investigation timed to coincide with the parliamentary audit schedule," signaling a party-level response.
At a meeting to prepare for the parliamentary audit held at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea that day, Chung said, "They say the police under Lee Jae Myung's government will summon and question our party's Kim Jae-seop on the first day of the parliamentary audit. Do you really think this could be a coincidence?"
Kim is reportedly being questioned by the National Police Agency on suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act in connection with his allegations about Seoul mayoral candidate Jeong Won-oh's trip to Cancún during the last local elections.
Chung called it "a petty retaliatory investigation by the political police over the defeat in the Seoul mayoral election" and claimed it was "a diversionary investigation intended to turn public attention away from the parliamentary audit, where the failures of the Lee Jae Myung government will be exposed."
He continued, "After the prosecution was dismantled for the first time in 78 years, the first person summoned by the police was a former aide who exposed the true face of lawmaker Kim Byung-gi, and the second person summoned was an opposition lawmaker. Both the first and second summonses were thoroughly retaliatory investigations carried out for the regime."
He added, "I strongly condemn the political police for trampling on the opposition from the very first day of the parliamentary audit. The People Power Party will respond forcefully at the party level to the National Police Agency's politically motivated investigations aimed at suppressing the opposition."
Chung also strongly criticized the government over North Korea's landmine incident in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). He said, "Our soldiers were sacrificed in North Korea's despicable aggression, yet the military did nothing more than demand an apology from North Korea and the removal of the landmines. Instead of even taking low-intensity measures such as loudspeakers directed at North Korea, they are begging North Korea to retreat a little."
Targeting Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young in particular, he asked, "Is he really the minister of unification of the Republic of Korea, or is he the head of the United Front Department of North Korea's Workers' Party of Korea?" He urged Chung to resign, saying, "He is not even qualified to be a citizen, let alone a minister of the Republic of Korea. Resign immediately."
Regarding the controversy over 'empty-gun guard duty' at military units on the front line, he said, "We must determine who ultimately issued the order" and claimed that "both a parliamentary investigation and a special counsel investigation are necessary."
Chung said, "South Korea's national security is melting away," adding, "The Lee Jae Myung regime is proving for itself how much nonsense its self-reliant national defense policy is. This is not self-reliant defense but self-destructive defense."

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