[Editorial] Find the truth

Myung Tae-kyun, a shadowy figure at the center of suspicions that first lady Kim Keon Hee may have intervened in the ruling party’s nomination races, disclosed on Tuesday a screen capture of text messages he and Kim exchanged in 2021.

“You will see the correct answer tomorrow when (he) meets Lee Jun-seok,” Myung texted. Lee was leader of the party at that time.

“You’re working so hard! Please forgive my childish oppa,” Kim replied. “Oppa” is a Korean word for a girl or woman’s elder brother, and is also used by a girl or woman to refer to her older boyfriend or husband.

“Ignorant people always behave like that. I apologize,” she continued, “I rely entirely on you. Sometimes I couldn’t understand my oppa. He knows little. Anyhow, your knowledge and opinions are the most excellent. You are the only one who can solve (problems).”

The presidential office said the oppa she mentioned was not President Yoon Suk Yeol but her elder brother and that the disclosed texts were just a private conversation before Yoon joined the party on July 31, 2021.

Soon afterward, Myung said that Kim’s elder brother is not the type of person to talk to about political issues. This argument differs from the presidential office’s explanation, though it is not clear that it's an obvious refutation. In view of the context, however, few would believe the presidential office’s explanation. If it's true that the oppa is Kim’s elder brother, it's hard to understand why Myung met with him or what Lee Jun-seok has to do with him.

Either way, it's hard to avoid controversy. Suspicions will be raised that the brother of a presidential candidate’s wife may have been interfering in state affairs after the presidential election. In either case, the presidential office’s explanation that the first couple’s relations with Myung were fleeting is unconvincing.

Myung argued in a radio interview on Monday that he spoke with the Yoon couple on the phone every day for about six months from June 2021 to give them advice, and that he met them numerous times, including at Yoon’s home. At that time, the party’s presidential nomination race was underway.

The presidential office said in a statement that Yoon met him just twice and that he did not communicate with Myung afterward. The office said the first meeting came when Lee, the then-party leader, visited Yoon’s house with Myung, and the second one was when Kim Chong-in, former interim party leader, did so. But Lee and Kim Chong-in denied bringing Myung to Yoon’s home. The presidential statement raises further suspicions.

Myung also argued in the radio interview that after the presidential election, the first lady asked him to come to the office of the presidential transition team to interview people. The presidential office denied this, but suspicions remain as the disclosed texts give the impression that Kim trusted Myung.

An online news outlet has released a shocking audio recording of a conversation between Myung and a former subordinate. He instructed the person to manipulate an opinion poll to favor Yoon during the party’s presidential nomination race. Myung said, “Make Yoon lead Hong Joon-pyo by 2 to 3 percent by raising the response coefficients of young respondents.” The subordinate replied, “Understood.” If true, this is a grave and politically explosive issue.

Myung is being investigated by the prosecution on charges of receiving tens of millions of won in bribes from an aide to Kim Yeong-seon, a former ruling party lawmaker, shortly after she won a June 2022 parliamentary by-election. An internet media outlet recently reported that Myung is suspected of having influenced the Yoon couple -- particularly the first lady -- to get the party to nominate Kim Yeong-seon as a candidate in the by-election.

Myung once said that if he is jailed, the regime will crumble in a month. The mysterious suspect even disclosed texts he exchanged with the first lady. Insufficient explanations by the presidential office are adding fuel to suspicions. Unless the truth is found and corresponding measures follow, people can only watch the suspicions snowball.