Lee claims smear campaign by opposition altered election result

Apr 16, 2026, 09:02 am

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President Lee Jae-myung speaks at the Regulatory Reform Committee meeting at the presidential office on April 15. / Yonhap

President Lee Jae-myung on April 15 claimed that the outcome of the presidential election could have been different if not for allegations linking him to organized crime and the Daejang-dong development scandal, urging the main opposition People Power Party to issue an apology.

“Although it is already in the past, if not for the gang-related allegations and the fabricated corruption claims surrounding Daejang-dong, the election result would have been completely different,” Lee said, noting that the margin was just 0.73%, “less than one in a hundred voters.”

Lee shared a news report on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Won’t the opposition party apologize for fabricating and spreading gang-related allegations?”

The report cited a case in which a family member of an individual who raised allegations about Lee’s alleged ties to a criminal organization later received a nomination for a city council seat following the election.

During the 2022 presidential race, attorney Jang Young-ha and an individual identified as Park raised claims linking Lee to organized crime. Jang was recently found guilty of spreading false information under the Public Official Election Act.

Lee said, “Even children apologize when their wrongdoing is revealed. That is what we teach them,” adding that the People Power Party, as a major opposition party, should now apologize since “a serious wrongdoing has been clearly exposed.”

Lee further questioned whether the party had offered compensation to those who spread the allegations, saying, “I had suspected that contributors who helped the party win the election by spreading such claims might have been rewarded with money or positions, and the truth will eventually come out.”

He added, “I await a sincere and official apology from the People Power Party, which changed the election outcome by spreading baseless allegations.”

Presidential spokesperson Jeon Eun-soo also addressed the issue in a briefing, stating, “Elections are the flower of democracy, and voters’ correct choices must be based on accurate information.”

She added, “The malicious false information spread by the opposition party directly distorted the electoral system, which is the foundation of democracy, and it should take responsibility and issue an apology.”

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