The Democratic Party of Korea strongly criticized allegations of a "deal to drop charges against President Lee Jae-myung" raised through YouTuber Kim Ou-joon's channel, stating that "no party-level response measures are being discussed."
Baek Seung-ah, the party's floor spokesperson, met with reporters after a policy coordination meeting at the National Assembly on the 12th. "The claim that we made a deal with prosecutors over dropping charges in President Lee's case in exchange for prosecution reform is nonsense," she said. "Shaking up state affairs with deal allegations is extremely dangerous."
Baek emphasized that "the Democratic Party has formed a separate group and special committee for dropping charges in President Lee's case and has submitted a request for a parliamentary investigation." She added, "With evidence of fabricated indictment already revealed, there is absolutely no reason to make deals behind closed doors."
She continued, "Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho has also clearly stated there is no such fact," adding that "the claim was raised without any evidence, which is why it is being called a conspiracy theory." She also said, "Currently, no specific response measures are being discussed at the party level."
The party's floor leadership unleashed strong criticism against the deal allegations on this day. Cheon Jun-ho, senior deputy floor leader for floor operations, stated, "Fabricated indictment and charge dismissal cannot be subjects of a deal. This goes beyond shaking the president to shaking prosecution reform itself."
Kim Han-gyu, senior deputy floor leader for policy, also said, "False news and conspiracy theories claiming President Lee made reform a subject of bargaining are emerging, along with groundless excessive criticism." He called on "party members, supporters, and citizens to trust the president we elected with our own hands and stand with us."
Park Sang-hyuk, vice chairman of the policy committee, stated, "We have no time to waste on providing fuel for conspiracy theories. We will unite more firmly to overcome current difficulties and do our best to complete reforms."
Earlier, Jang In-soo, a former MBC reporter, appeared on broadcaster Kim Ou-joon's YouTube channel and others, claiming that a high-ranking government official had asked prosecutors to drop charges in President Lee's case. Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho refuted this, calling it "an absurd story." He said, "I have met many prosecutors since taking office and have urged them to work on restoring public trust, but the claim that I sent such a text message is groundless."