From 'staged attack' to 'PPP conspiracy': Conservative infighting deepens

A dispute over the alleged staged attack by former Reform Party Busan mayoral candidate Jeong I-han is spilling into open conflict within the conservative camp. After the People Power Party raised questions about Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok's responsibility, Lee fired back with allegations of a "PPP conspiracy" — prompting the PPP to accuse the Reform Party of a "drowning man" tactic.

At a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Monday, Lee said he had already bowed his head in apology to the public and the people of Busan as party leader over what happened during the Busan mayoral election, and that his feelings remained the same. He said, however, that the Reform Party would respond forthrightly with verified facts to what he called reckless, shoot-first allegations.

Earlier, some in the opposition had raised the possibility that the Reform Party knew in advance about Jeong's alleged self-staging. Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon said Friday that the crux of the matter was when the police and the Reform Party learned the incident was staged, floating the theory that the party had prior knowledge.

People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo also said at a press conference the same day that it had newly come to light that police had summoned and questioned Jeong in May and obtained a confession regarding the staged-attack allegations. On Sunday, Ju wrote on Facebook that Jeong staged the incident on April 27, that Secretary General Lee Gi-in had tried to contact him on May 19, and that Jeong had gone out of contact for an extended period — around which time Jeong had confessed to the full offense during a police investigation. Ju added that he could not understand how Reform Party officials stationed at the campaign office could have been unaware of the police investigation.

In response, Lee wrote on Facebook that he was not staying silent because he did not know who from the PPP had approached Jeong and put strange ideas in his head. He warned that if a certain candidate's camp had made an improper proposal to Jeong, "you are finished."

Lee added that Jeong had previously worked as a staff aide for the PPP, and said he knew who within the PPP had allegedly orchestrated the situation during the election but could not understand why those responsible were still making noise.

Analysts say Lee's remarks appear to suggest that PPP efforts to pursue a candidate consolidation with Jeong during the Busan mayoral race may have played a role in the staged incident.

Reform Party Secretary General Lee Gi-in also addressed the May 19 date cited by Ju, saying it was the day Park Heong-joon's camp and Jeong had pursued a consolidation deal and were scheduled to hold a press conference. He said Jeong had been out of contact with everyone at the Reform Party at the time and communicated only with people from the PPP camp, and added that the party had identified who from Park's camp had arranged the situation.

The PPP immediately pushed back against the Reform Party's "PPP conspiracy" allegations, dismissing them as an attempt to muddy the waters.

PPP supreme council member Yang Hyang-ja said at the council meeting Monday that Lee Jun-seok was effectively claiming the PPP had orchestrated Jeong's staged attack from behind the scenes. She criticized him for trying to change the narrative through a barrage of baseless claims now that the Jeong affair was turning into a personal scandal for Lee.

Seo Ji-yeon, who served as spokesperson for Park Heong-joon's election campaign committee during the Busan mayoral race, issued a statement Monday saying there would have been no reason for the campaign to pursue consolidation if it had known about the staged attack in advance. She said the consolidation never materialized, and called the attempt to link the two issues a political fabrication.

PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon told reporters Monday that supreme council members had expressed strong displeasure at Lee Jun-seok's remarks during a closed-door council session. He called it more than just muddying the waters, describing it as a "drowning man" tactic to drag the PPP into the affair. He added that if Lee's claims were true, the sensible thing to do would be to go to the police and lay out the details.

Political observers say the staged-attack affair has plunged the Reform Party into the worst crisis since its founding. While the party insists the incident was an individual's misconduct and has sought to distance itself, the PPP continues to press the party leadership on its responsibility, and the controversy shows no sign of abating.