 |
| ▲ The presidential office in Seoul (Yonhap) |
presidential office-politics
Presidential office denies Yoon's involvement in 2022 by-election nomination
SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office denied Thursday that President Yoon Suk Yeol was involved in the nomination of a candidate for the parliamentary by-elections in 2022, when he was president-elect.
The denial came hours after the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) played a recording of what it said was a phone call in which Yoon told Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed political broker, that he had recommended the ruling party nominate now former lawmaker Kim Young-sun to run in the by-election in the Changwon and Uichang district of South Gyeongsang Province.
The recording marks the latest revelation in a growing scandal centering on allegations that Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee conferred with Myung to interfere with the ruling party's candidate nominations ahead of multiple elections.
"Then President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol never received a report on candidate nominations from the nomination management committee nor did he give instructions for a nomination," the presidential office said in a notice to the press.
"The phone conversation between then President-elect Yoon and Myung Tae-kyun did not discuss anything important enough to be particularly memorable, and (Yoon) simply spoke favorably of Kim Young-sun because Myung kept talking about her nomination," the office said.
The DP claimed the phone call took place on May 9, 2022, a day before Kim Young-sun won the ruling People Power Party's nomination and Yoon was inaugurated as president.
In the recording, Yoon can be heard saying, "The nomination committee brought it to me, so I said since Kim Young-sun campaigned hard during the primaries, give it to her, but the party's being difficult."
Myung is heard thanking him, saying, "I will never forget this favor."
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
