Han Dong-hoon Raises Suspicion of 'Build-up to Indictment Dismissal' Over Lee Jae-myung's Apology to No Woong-rae

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon criticized President Lee Jae-myung on the 22nd, claiming that Lee's apology to former lawmaker No Woong-rae regarding his exclusion from nomination was a calculated "build-up" aimed at securing a dismissal of the indictment (dismissal of charges) in the President's own ongoing trials.

On the evening of the 21st, President Lee took to X (formerly Twitter) to mention the 2024 general election, where he excluded former Rep. No from the nomination while serving as Democratic Party leader. Lee stated, "For the sake of the entire election, I had no choice but to sacrifice a comrade, riding on the atrocities of the political prosecution." He added, "I extend my congratulations to Senior No, who has proven his innocence and escaped the risk of imprisonment, along with my belated apology." Former Rep. No was acquitted on appeal after being indicted on charges of receiving illegal political funds.

Responding to this, Rep. Han took to Facebook again on the 22nd to counter the claims. He argued, "Even in the court for former Rep. No's case, the recorded conversation between the broker's wife and Rep. No, which was replayed in court, clearly contained not just the 'rustling of money envelopes' but 'conversations after receiving money' in vivid detail."

Furthermore, he added, "Rep. Song Young-gil was also acquitted not on the merits [of innocence] but on the formal grounds of excluding illegally obtained evidence." He continued, "It will not work for President Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party Leader Kim Min-seok, and lawmakers Song Young-gil, Park Ju-min, and Park Ji-won to act like they are falsely accused and play 'tic-tac-toe' to stage a 'build-up for the dismissal of Lee Jae-myung's indictment.'"