“Did they manipulate the opinion poll?” The dispute between Myung Tae-kyun and Kang Hye-kyung

[Anchor]

In the 2021 People Power Party presidential candidate primary, reports emerged that Myung Tae-kyun instructed the manipulation of public opinion polls to favor candidate Yoon Suk-yeol.

Myung, the subject of the allegations, denied any manipulation, while his former subordinate, Kang Hye-kyung, stated that she believed the materials were not to be leaked.

Reporter Woo Jeong-hwa has the details.

[Report]

In September 2021, during the People Power Party presidential candidate primary, a conversation was reported between Myung Tae-kyun, the operator of a polling company, and his employee Kang Hye-kyung.

According to audio recordings released by News Tomato, Myung told Kang, "Make Yoon Suk-yeol rise, so that he is about 2% ahead of Hong Joon-pyo," to which Kang replied, "Understood."

Myung then provided more specific instructions.

Pointing to the younger demographic, he urged, "We need to raise the response rate so that Yoon Suk-yeol comes out 2-3 percentage points ahead of Hong Joon-pyo."

The survey results reportedly showed candidate Yoon ahead of candidate Hong by 3.9 percentage points.

Kang claimed that it was an internal survey not meant for public disclosure and was intended for reporting to candidate Yoon.

[Noh Young-hee/Lawyer/Kang Hye-kyung's attorney: "Kang Hye-kyung believed at the time that the materials were not to be leaked. When she was instructed to manipulate, she was not in a position to refuse."]

However, Myung Tae-kyun completely denied the allegations of instructing poll manipulation.

He argued that the released portions were edited and distorted by Kang, claiming that there were mistakes in her survey, and he had instructed corrections.

[Myung Tae-kyun: "What would I gain from manipulation? It wouldn't even be publicized. I'm saying to release the full recording."]

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo stated that he was aware of Myung's manipulation at the time, believing that the primary opinion polls were fair, and that even if Myung manipulated, it would not affect the overall trend.

He also expressed that Myung's manipulation could have influenced the party member votes in which he lost.

The Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial Election Commission reported Kang Hye-kyung, who was the accounting manager for former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Yeong-seon, for violating the Political Funds Act last December, and the prosecution is currently investigating Kang, former lawmaker Kim, and Myung Tae-kyun.

This is KBS News, Woo Jeong-hwa reporting.