Shin Hak-lim, the former head of the National Union of Media Workers, answers reporters' questions during a press conference in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Yonhap By Lee Hyo-jin The presidential office on Tuesday criticized a media interview given by Kim Man-bae, a key suspect in a high-profile land development scandal, calling the interview an attempt at "unprecedented electoral manipulation" against then-candidate Yoon Suk Yeol in the 2022 presidential election. Kim Man-bae / Newsis"It is becoming clear that there has been political maneuvering in an attempt to switch the focus from Lee Jae-myung to Yoon Suk Yeol in the Hwacheon Daeyu scandal," a senior official at the presidential office told reporters. "It is hard to dispel suspicions that the mastermind behind the Daejang-dong case, in collaboration with a media figure from the National Union of Media Workers, had been orchestrating an unprecedented election manipulation scheme." The official was referring to Shin Hak-lim, former head of the National Union of Media Workers, who is under investigation for allegedly receiving 165 million won ($124,500) from Kim, in return for releasing an interview with him. Shin was working for progressive media outlet Newstapa when he conducted the phone interview. Kim, the largest shareholder of asset management company Hwacheon Daeyu, is the key player in the scandal-ridden Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, that occurred when former presidential candidate and current main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung was the mayor of the city. In the interview released on March 6, 2022, Kim claimed that Yoon had helped cover up a fraudulent loan scheme in 2011 when he was a prosecutor, thereby helping the brokers of the Daejang-dong development project to secure seed money. The controversial interview was released just three days ahead of the March 9 presidential election, which Yoon won by a razor-thin margin over Lee. "By releasing the phone (interview) records three days ahead of the election, they attempted to manipulate the Daejang-dong scandal and make it seem like then-candidate Yoon Suk Yeol was behind it, in an attempt to change the election outcomes. The goal of the manipulation and fabrication of facts was Yoon's defeat," the official from the presidential office said. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) echoed the view, calling the interview "the biggest political maneuvering surrounding the 2022 presidential election." "Through a thorough investigation, the mastermind behind the political manipulation and those who closely collaborated should be identified. The media outlets that amplified the untruthful interview should also take responsibility," PPP floor leader Rep. Yun Jae-ok said during a party meeting, Tuesday. The DPK took a prudent stance on the issue. "Currently, it's very difficult and ambiguous to immediately judge what the truth is," Rep. Park Joo-min of the DPK said during an interview with local broadcaster SBS. "The situation is turning out to be completely opposite from what we've been seeing, so there needs to be a prudent approach to this."
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