The Saenuri Party is in an awkward position as a party official accused of blackmailing an aide to professor Ahn Cheol-soo admitted the falsity of some of the remarks he made during a news conference to counter the claim.
Jeong Joon-gil, former official on the ruling Saenuri Party’s communications team, reversed his earlier statement and admitted that he was in a taxi when making the controversial call to Geum Tae-seop, a legal adviser to Ahn.
Geum said last week Jeong threatened to divulge details on an alleged bribery scandal and an extramarital affair involving Ahn if he runs in the election.
Jeong Joon-gil. (Yonhap News)
Jeong countered that he had made a casual call to his longtime friend while driving and told him about the ongoing political gossip.
His statement started to lose credibility, however, as a taxi driver claimed to remember the conversation taking place in his taxi.
According to the taxi’s black box information, Jeong took the taxi from near his home heading to the party’s regional headquarters at the time he made the call.
The driver also witnessed that the lawyer used intimidating words, contrary to his claims that the call was no more than a private conversation between friends.
Amid the growing suspicions, Jeong admitted through his Facebook page late on Wednesday that he remembered taking a taxi while looking for his car.
“I only had minutes to prepare my rebuttal and was confused in some of the details,” he wrote.
Jeong also said that he needs some time to recover from the shock and look back on the facts, refusing to hold a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Some party officials speculated that the car story may have been the novice politician’s attempt to dodge the blame for making such a politically sensitive call in a taxi.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
