Special Counsel Says Lee Jun-seok 'Effectively' Refusing to Appear; Reform Party Disputes Claim

The Reform Party has disputed claims by Special Counsel Min Joong-ki, who is investigating allegations of First Lady Kim Keon-hee's involvement in candidate nominations, that party leader Lee Jun-seok has been refusing to appear for questioning as a suspect.

"The expression 'effectively refusing,' as claimed by the special counsel, clearly does not correspond with the facts," the Reform Party said Saturday.

"Representative Lee has consistently stated his position that he is willing to actively participate in the investigation at any time," the party said.

The Reform Party emphasized that "while fulfilling various schedules assigned to a National Assembly member, including regular and extraordinary sessions, we proposed available times across all possible time slots including early morning, late night, and public holidays to accommodate the special counsel's investigation."

The party also explained that "we informed the special counsel that the attorney is currently staying overseas and conveyed our intention to participate in the investigation with the attorney present immediately upon return." The party added, "The special counsel also responded positively to this at the time."

"Nevertheless, the special counsel's side only replied that they would 'reject all' the times we proposed," the party said. "Despite having sufficient time and conditions to conduct the investigation, it is contrary to the facts for the special counsel to unilaterally notify specific dates without realistic consultation and then mention as if the representative is not appearing."

The party stated, "Representative Lee makes clear that he will immediately appear for investigation if the special counsel engages in reasonable schedule coordination."

Earlier Saturday, Park No-su, an assistant special prosecutor for the Kim Keon-hee special counsel team, held a regular briefing and announced, "We sent a summons to Representative Lee requesting his appearance as a suspect at 10 a.m. on the 12th of this month."

Park added, "The special counsel has been coordinating appearance schedules from various angles since early December for the summons investigation of Representative Lee, even proposing weekend investigation schedules, but he has been effectively refusing to appear, citing difficulty in appearing during December."

Meanwhile, the Kim Keon-hee special counsel has requested former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon to appear as a witness at 2 p.m. on the 18th of this month in connection with allegations of nomination interference by former President Yoon and the First Lady.