Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon is continuing his offensive against Rep. Kwak Sang-eon of the Democratic Party of Korea over allegations that late President Roh Moo-hyun's family received money and valuables. Han repeatedly pressed Kwak to say whether funds received from Park Yeon-cha, former chairman of Taekwang Industrial, were used to buy an apartment in New Jersey owned by Kwak and his wife.
Writing on Facebook on the afternoon of the 4th in response to Kwak's second rebuttal, Han said, "Rep. Kwak Sang-eon has written about me again." He added, "I am asking a simple factual question — not about some third party, but about the house Rep. Kwak and his wife bought in the United States, and whether the money for that house came from Park Yeon-cha."
Han said, "Rep. Kwak has a lot to say but cannot manage a single word denying that the money came from Park Yeon-cha. He says he is 'curious too.' But this is not someone else's story, is it?"
Han again demanded that Kwak answer with a simple "yes" or "no" on the facts. "He should stop dodging and say whether it is true or not," Han said.
The exchange began over Han's claim that the former president and his family received an expensive watch and a large sum of illegal funds from Park.
Kwak countered by demanding that Han present grounds and evidence for labeling the claim a "fact."
"Since Rep. Han himself loudly says that everything is fact, if he clearly shows me that fact and confirms it, I will take responsibility," Kwak said. "And I will apologize, accept criticism and accept punishment."
Kwak also noted that Han was not a prosecutor on the team that investigated the Park Yeon-cha case at the time, saying, "I have no idea on what grounds or how he asserts these are 'established facts' and 'facts.'"
Han responded, "I am not disclosing anything new that the public does not already know, so put away the unfocused deflection of asking how I would know when I was not on the investigation team."
Han in particular brought the funding for the couple's New Jersey apartment back to the center of the dispute. "It is a house that Rep. Kwak and his wife themselves bought, and Rep. Kwak personally filed the withdrawal of the appeal against the guilty verdict handed down to Roh Jung-yeon over the illegal foreign exchange transfers committed when buying the house in the United States," he said.
Explaining why he raised the issue, Han said, "Contrary to what the Democratic Party's political forces have been gaslighting the public with for nearly two decades, I pointed out the fact that Park Yeon-cha paid part of the price of the New Jersey house that Rep. Kwak and his wife bought for their studies, in order to say that the investigation into former President Roh Moo-hyun was not fabricated."
He then asked again, "Is it not so? You cannot say it is not, can you?"
Kwak has demanded that Han "present clear materials or evidence regarding the New Jersey apartment as well."
The war of words has stretched into a drawn-out fight, running from Kwak's first rebuttal on the 3rd through Han's counter-rebuttal, Kwak's second lengthy rebuttal on the 4th and Han's further response.
Han said, "South Korea has a future only if it overcomes the myth that the prosecution's investigation of Roh Moo-hyun was fabricated, a myth the Democratic Party's political forces have used to gaslight the public for private gain for nearly two decades."
In a separate post, he said, "I am criticizing the Democratic Party's political forces that exploited Roh Moo-hyun's death, not Roh Moo-hyun himself," stressing that his offensive targets the party's political framing rather than the former president personally.
Han asked once more, "Is it true or not that Roh Moo-hyun himself or his family received Piaget watches worth 300 million won and billions of won in illegal funds from his sponsor Park Yeon-cha, including the price of Rep. Kwak Sang-eon and his wife's New Jersey house?"
Kwak, for his part, is holding to the position that Han must first present concrete grounds for the "facts" he alleges.
