Sparks fly after Jim Rogers refutes ‘endorsement’ of Lee Jae-myung

Investor tells The Korea Herald he does not support or endorse anyone, but liberals cling on to claim

Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung urges people to vote for him during a press conference held at a church in Gyeonggi Province on Monday. Yonhap

Rival parties on Monday bickered over the authenticity of the Democratic Party of Korea’s claims that veteran US investor Jim Rogers supported its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung.

The controversy snowballed Monday after Rogers denied his endorsement of Lee in several interviews with local media from late Sunday.

In an email inquiry from The Korea Herald, Rogers replied, "I do not support or endorse or anything any candidate there," when asked whether he supports or has endorsed Lee.

Despite Rogers' direct denial, Kim Jin-hyang, the former head of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, who read the letter of “endorsement” during a Democratic Party press conference Thursday insisted the endorsement was real.

“I officially confirm that Chairman (of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc.) Jim Rogers’ support of candidate Lee Jae-myung is true,” Kim said in a statement jointly released with Song Kyung-ho, a professor at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

Song, who is based in London, said that he communicated with Rogers on the messenger app WeChat from May 26-29, during which he agreed to release the letter of to the press.

Kim explained that the gap in stance between Rogers and themselves was merely a “misunderstanding."

In the same statement, Song said that Rogers did express his “support” for Lee. Song claimed that Rogers requested him to draft a support letter for Lee, but expressed regret that the media "misinterpreted" it as an endorsement.

The two released screen captures of a WeChat conversation, showing Rogers responding, “Thanks! This is fine.”

However, the draft that Rogers approved was more measured in tone than the version released by the Democratic Party. In the draft, Rogers is quoted as saying, “That is why I recognize the pragmatic approach of Lee Jae-myung, a leader who is focused not on ideology or political distractions.”

By contrast, the final English version shared by the Democratic Party quoted Rogers as saying, “That is why I strongly support Lee Jae-myung.”

It goes on to describe Lee as “a leader with the courage and vision to end the era of confrontation and open a new chapter of peace, growth, and global leadership for Korea,” and also contains a direct appeal: “The choice is Lee Jae-myung.”

Democratic Party chief spokesperson Cho Seung-rae told reporters “there was apparently a process of refining the statements” made by Rogers, saying claims of “fraud” were “excessive.”

In a Friday Facebook post, Lee Jae-myung had welcomed the "endorsement" of Rogers, highlighting the investor’s longstanding interest in the inter-Korean economic ties.

The People Power Party on Monday afternoon filed a complaint with prosecutors against candidate Lee, Rep. Lee Jae-gang and several others involved in the matter, for spreading false information and defamation.

The party denounced the Democratic Party’s claims as “an international fraud” and called for Lee to drop out of the presidential race.

People Power Party Interim Chair Kim Yong-tae said during the party’s election committee meeting Monday morning that the Democratic Party’s claims are “incorrect stories spread by a person who met (Rogers) briefly a few years ago.”