Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party, speaks at the National Assembly, Thursday. (Yonhap)
People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo on Thursday openly attacked Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, saying that those linked to allegations against him have been “silenced with death.”
Ahn also strongly demanded prosecutors to launch a special investigation into the scandals and their possible connection with presidential candidate Lee.
“People who held keys to corruption scandals, including the Daejang-dong corruption scandal, have been silenced with death,“ Ahn said during a meeting held at the National Assembly on Thursday.
Ahn’s remake followed the death of a civic activist, who first raised allegations that ruling party presidential candidate Lee had others pay his legal fees in his election law violation case in 2018.
The civic activist was found dead at a motel in Seoul, Wednesday.
Calling for a thorough investigation into the matter, Ahn claimed that there are “clearly people planning and carrying out (the deaths).”
On Dec. 10, Yoo Han-gi, former division manager of the Seongnam Development Corporation, was found dead in an apparent suicide, near his home in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Yoo was a key suspect in the investigation involving a development scandal connected to the lucrative apartment development project in Daejang-dong.
On Dec. 21, Kim Moon-ki, head of the development division at Seongnam Development Corp, was also found dead in an apparent suicide amid a probe into the same corruption-ridden development project. Kim was probed over his alleged involvement in the apartment development project.
Ahn demanded prosecutors to launch a special investigation into the scandals and possible connection between the three deaths and presidential candidate Lee. “It is a serious crime if prosecutors intentionally continue to show little interest in the case,” Ahn said.
Ahn also urged presidential candidate Lee to come out and “speak the truth.”
Meanwhile, Ahn also criticized People Power Party’s presidential nominee Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign pledge to raise the wages of enlisted soldiers to 2 million won ($1,600) a month, calling it a populist campaign pledge.
