Ruling Party Files Counter-Complaint Against Lawmaker Who Accused President Lee Jae-myung
The ruling Democratic Party on the 12th filed a counter-complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against People Power Party Rep. Joo Jin-woo, who had accused President Lee Jae-myung of disclosing official secrets (the charge of improperly divulging secrets learned in the course of duty), on charges of defamation and false accusation (the crime of falsely reporting fabricated facts). The incident underlying the complaint was President Lee's posting on X (formerly Twitter) on the 29th of last month of a photo of a confidential document titled 'Daily Comprehensive Situation Report' containing statistics on the decline in voice phishing damage. Rep. Joo held a press conference on the matter in the National Assembly's communication hall on the afternoon of the 30th of last month and filed the complaint against the president on the 1st of this month.
The Democratic Party's Legal Affairs Committee announced in a press release on the 12th that it had filed the complaint against Rep. Joo on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act (defamation), defamation through the dissemination of false information, and false accusation. The committee argued that the 'voice phishing damage reduction status' section of the report disclosed by President Lee was content that could and should be made known to the public, and that it in no way fell under the disclosure of official secrets. The party claimed that Rep. Joo spread the false information that the document amounted to 'an admission that the president is receiving reports on investigative developments from the special counsel on the National Election Commission,' based on a truncated phrase at the bottom of the report. The party countered that the content was merely a National Police Agency public safety situation report and had nothing to do with reports on the special counsel's investigation.
Yang Bu-nam, the Democratic Party's chief legal officer and a member of the National Assembly, said that a person who served as legal secretary in the presidential office under the Yoon Suk-yeol government could not have been unaware that his claims were false, urging that his actions of falsely defaming and accusing the president for political gain be punished according to law and principle. The same day, Lee Joo-hee, the party's floor spokesperson, called on Rep. Joo to issue a formal apology and resign from his seat during a briefing.
Rep. Joo responded by characterizing the counter-complaint as 'a political offensive aimed at silencing him,' and mentioned on Facebook the push for a 'imperial golf special counsel' investigation.
