PPP chief demands Lee release records over alleged golf outing during missing sailor incident

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok has raised allegations that President Lee Jae Myung played golf on the day a Navy frigate crew member went missing in the East Sea, demanding that all related records be made public.

Jang wrote on Facebook on Monday that "allegations have emerged that the president was leisurely playing golf while a Navy servicemember was dying in the cold waters of the East Sea. How devastated must the bereaved family feel?"

Jang said the allegations were highly specific. He claimed the sailor's disappearance was confirmed in the early morning hours of July 12 and that the president was said to have begun playing golf at around 11 a.m. that day. He added that "numerous people, including security personnel, are said to have witnessed the president's party."

Jang went on to say: "If this is truly what happened, Lee Jae Myung can no longer be recognized as commander in chief of the Republic of Korea's armed forces. All relevant materials — including briefing records after the servicemember went missing, entry logs for Taereung Country Club, and CCTV footage — must be disclosed accurately, down to the minute."

Assembly member Na Kyung-won also posted on Facebook, saying that "if the tip-off proves true, this would be a serious national security lapse — the kind that, under a conservative administration, the Democratic Party would have pursued with a parliamentary investigation, special prosecutor probe and impeachment motion all at once." She called on President Lee to personally explain to the public whether the golf allegation was true.