The Democratic Party of Korea has filed a criminal complaint against People Power Party lawmakers Joo Jin-woo and Kim Jae-seop, who raised allegations about a past assault incident involving Jung Won-oh, the party's Seoul mayoral candidate. Kim Seok-yeol, former chief of staff to the Yangcheon-gu district head who was involved in the same assault incident, sent a message stating that responsibility for the assault lies with him, backing up Jung's account.
The Democratic Party said Friday that it "filed a complaint with police against Rep. Kim Jae-seop at 8 p.m. the previous day and against Rep. Joo Jin-woo at 5:30 p.m. today under Article 250, Paragraph 2 of the Public Official Election Act for spreading false information with the intent to cause electoral defeat."
Citing the 1995 stenographic records of the Yangcheon District Council, Rep. Kim alleged that Jung had demanded an overnight stay from a female cafe employee and assaulted both a citizen who tried to stop him and a police officer who arrived at the scene. Kim argued that Jung's explanation — that the assault stemmed from differing political views related to the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement — is not true.
Rep. Joo also released an audio recording of the victim stating, "There was no dispute at all over May 18," and "I never received an apology or offered forgiveness at the time."
In response, Jung's camp released a message Friday from former chief of staff Kim Seok-yeol, saying, "The allegations raised by Rep. Kim Jae-seop and Rep. Joo Jin-woo, citing the one-sided account of a Yangcheon district councilor, are not true."
In the message, Kim said, "The entire cause of the incident that took place in October 1995 at the cafe 'Gaae' in Sinjeong 5-dong, Yangcheon-gu, lies entirely with me." He added, "I was the one who arranged the gathering that day, and I was also the one who, unable to control my emotions after a heated political argument over the June 27 election and the May 18 Democratization Movement, led the assault."
