RIVAL PARTIES CLASH OVER LAND SCANDAL

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In political news, rival parties are pointing fingers at each other over a special counsel probe into the Seongnam land development scandal. The latest feud concerns ruling Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung’s remark that he did not know Kim Moon-ki while he was mayor of Seongnam, Kim is another official related to the scandal who was recently found dead. The opposition unveiled a photo Lee took with Kim to prove otherwise while the DP argues that claim to be preposterous.

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The National Assembly judiciary committee held a meeting to discuss introducing an independent counsel probe into the land development scandal. But rival camps did not see eye to eye, just as when ruling and opposition leaders met two days ago. The main opposition People Power Party insists that the counsel probe should only focus on Lee while the DP believes that allegations surrounding the PPP presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s family should also be investigated. The bickering only wasted time.

[Soundbite] Yoon Han-hong(PPP lawmaker) : "DP and Lee Jae-myung are in it together. They want the public to know they support a probe but the DP is in fact blocking it."

[Soundbite] Park Ju-min(DP lawmaker) : "The probe should also include allegations involving Yoon, his wife and mother-in-law to defuse all suspicions."

Meanwhile Lee’s remark to prosecutorsthat he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a former executive at the Seongnam Development Corporation, while Lee was mayor of Seongnam drew criticism from the opposition.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Presidential Candidate(Dec. 22, SBS)) : "I didn’t know him when I was the mayor. He was a lower-rank team chief. I got to know him after I became the provincial governor."

The PPP ramped up its offensive, unveiling photos of Lee and Kim taken together during Lee’s business trip to New Zealand in 2015.

[Soundbite] Kim Eun-hye(PPP lawmaker(Dec. 23, CBS)) : "Lee may be purposely ignoring him through selective memory. The more he acts this way, our party is more eager to delve into the scandal."

In response, the DP questioned whether one would remember every singleparticipant of a business trip from a few years back that was attended by a dozen members. Party chairman Song Young-gil also said it’s more likely a case of not being able to remember.