[News Today] “HEARD YOON'S VOICE IN RECORDING”

[LEAD]
A phone call between President Yoon and political broker Myung Tae-kyun, also a key figure in the election meddling scandal, was previously disclosed. Yesterday, an associate of Myung, who claims to have heard another recording, faced prosecutor questioning. The search continues for Myung's phone which allegedly holds this conversation.

[REPORT]
Late last month the Democratic Party disclosed a phone conversation between then-president elect Yoon Suk Yeol and political broker Myung Tae-kyun.

Phone call between then-president elect and political broker
(Source: Democratic Party)
"I told them to pull through for Kim Young-sun. But there's too much gripe within the party..."

Both Myung and Yoon have denied alleged meddling in candidate nominations.

But another source close to Myung has claimed, there is another existing audio clip of Yoon making similar remarks,

One of Myung's acquaintances told reporters that he personally heard a phone conversation between Yoon Suk Yeol and then-chief of the nomination management committee Yoon Sang-hyun. In that conversation, Yoon called Myung "Dr. Myung" and asked him to tell former lawmaker Kim Young-sun to get ready.

The time and place where the source had heard the recorded conversation were also specified.

It is said to be at a lunch gathering with Myung and Kim at a hotel in Changwon on June 1, 2022, the day of parliamentary by-elections.

Unlike the details in the previously released audio clip, the latest one is said to entail a full-on candidate nomination decision.

It still remains unclear whether or not the disclosed audio file is part of the same conversation released by the DP.
However, it's the first time that someone close to Myung has claimed to have heard the president's audio firsthand.

The person who disclosed the details of the said audio recording was interrogated by prosecutors as witness on Monday.

Myung has also undergone questioning for the fourth time since his arrest.
His attorney declined to comment on the allegation that Myung offered to submit the phone he used during the presidential election in return for sparing him from arrest.

Nam Sang-kwon / Myung Tae-kyun's attorney
(Was the phone mentioned?) I'm not going to say anything about that.

The prosecutors have also summoned Kang Hye-kyung for the tenth time to interrogate her about public poll allegations during the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election.