Tae denies allegation of illegal political donation

Members of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) showed signs of distancing themselves from Rep. Tae Yong-ho for comments the lawmaker made in denial of accusations that he received an illegal political donation during last year's local election.

People Power Party executive council member Rep. Tae Yong-ho is surrounded by reporters after speaking at a press conference at the National Assembly, western Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Members of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) showed signs of distancing themselves from Rep. Tae Yong-ho for comments the lawmaker made in denial of accusations that he received a political donation illegally during last year's local election.

Kim Byung-min, who sits on the PPP's executive council alongside Tae, said during a Wednesday evening radio program that Tae "had spoken in a misguided way when he should have been contrite," referring to Tae's comments earlier in the day that the allegations were part of a "group lynching" campaign designed to end his political career.

Another leading party figure, PPP Secretary General Lee Chul-gyu, told reporters on Thursday that "the 'group lynching' expression is hard to sympathize with," adding that Tae "had used words that have never been before used."

Media reports allege that the North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker accepted money from candidates running to become councilors of his constituency in Seoul's Gangnam District in return for endorsing their nominations.

The money was allegedly given to Tae via bank accounts belonging to the candidates' families and acquaintances.

Media have also reported on a transcript of a conversation between Tae and his aides in which Tae told his aides that Lee Jin-bok, the senior presidential political affairs secretary, asked Tae to make favorable comments to President Yoon Suk Yeol's efforts to improve relations with Japan while the pair discussed party nominations for next year's parliamentary elections.

Tae denied all accusations at a Wednesday press conference at the National Assembly.

"I would like to clarify that I am confident that there is not a single stain regarding the issue of fundraising," he said, adding that he "had no conversation whatsoever with Lee about what kind of remarks [I should make] as a Supreme Council member or party nominations."

The PPP's ethics committee is scheduled to hold a session on Monday to decide what kind of disciplinary action the party should undertake against Tae regarding the leaked recording and other controversies involving him.

Tae faced criticism for saying that the Jeju April 3 Uprising was instigated by Kim Il Sung, the founder of the North Korean regime.

Tae also suggested that renowned Korean independence activist Kim Gu, who protested against the joint U.S.-Soviet trusteeship and eventual division of Korea, was unintentionally supporting Kim Il Sung's plan to win over South Koreans by opposing the two countries' occupation of the peninsula.

Prior to his election as a lawmaker in 2020, Tae served as Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to London before defecting to Seoul in 2016.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]