Clash over Lee Choon-suak scandal

[Anchor]

The People Power Party is ramping up its offensive over allegations that lawmaker Lee Choon-suak engaged in stock transactions under borrowed names.

Calling the case just the tip of the iceberg, the party has proposed a full investigation into all lawmakers’ assets.

The Democratic Party is responding by calling for Lee’s expulsion from the National Assembly and disciplinary action against People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong.

Won Dong-hee reports.

[Report]

The People Power Party says the allegations against Lee are not a personal lapse but a national corruption crime.

It dismissed the Democratic Party’s attempt to expel Lee after the fact as a “cutting off the tail” tactic.

[Yoo Sang-bum/People Power Party Senior Deputy Floor Leader: “This is a power-driven financial crime, marking the start of a financial corruption scandal led by key figures in the Lee Jae Myung administration.”]

The party also noted that Lee’s aide—whose name was on the borrowed account—was a member of the State Affairs Planning Committee, arguing that the revealed allegations are “just the tip of the iceberg.”

[Song Eon-seok/People Power Party Emergency Committee Chair & Floor Leader: “Some say this might not be the ‘Lee Choon-suak scandal’ but the ‘State Affairs Planning Committee scandal.’”]

It reiterated calls for a full investigation of the committee and all lawmakers’ borrowed-name assets, as well as for a special counsel probe.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, is working to contain the fallout, even mentioning the possibility of expelling Lee from the Assembly.

[Park Soo-hyun/Democratic Party Chief Spokesperson/KBS1 Radio “Breaking Current Affairs”: “If the Ethics Special Committee is properly formed, then depending on the outcome of the investigation, it could naturally lead to expulsion from the National Assembly…”]

However, the party said both it and the presidential office are already taking the toughest possible measures, adding that the public is unlikely to support a special counsel or full investigation demanded by the opposition.

Instead, it countered by submitting a disciplinary motion against People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, who faces allegations of receiving illegal funds from the Unification Church.

[Park Sang-hyuk/Democratic Party Senior Deputy Floor Spokesperson: “Since there are media reports that he accepted political funds, this clearly falls under the grounds for disciplinary action as stipulated in our National Assembly Act.”]

Police began questioning the complainant today (8.8), and a compulsory investigation into Lee is expected to follow soon.

With the investigation’s outcome likely to have major repercussions, the political arena is on high alert.

KBS News, Won Dong-hee.