Ju Jin-woo vows to file criminal complaint against Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok

People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo said Tuesday he would immediately file a criminal complaint against Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok for spreading false information.

Writing on his Facebook page that day, Ju said that after he publicized what he called "Lee Jae Myung's imperial golf outing," the Democratic Party "hit its collective panic button." He said Kim had claimed on a morning YouTube broadcast that the process by which Ju's son received a large gift from his grandfather had lacked transparency.

Kim made the remarks on the YouTube program "Minti07," saying that when people raise questions about an opponent's wealth, it often turns out that their own family has issues — such as a grandfather passing a large sum to a young grandchild through a process that was not entirely transparent.

Ju pushed back immediately. He said Kim had ultimately failed to submit records of his son's overseas study expenses or his mother-in-law's gift tax payments during his confirmation hearing. "If there was nothing to hide, why couldn't he make them public?" Ju said.

Ju added that he had been confident enough in his own record to offer to release his gift tax payment documents at the same time as Kim — then a candidate — during the hearing. "Kim backed down and slipped away at the time," he said.

Ju also noted that National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyeon came from the Democratic Party's ranks. "A Democratic Party member is the head of the National Tax Service," he said. "If I had even the slightest problem, I would have been the first one they went after."

Ju said he would file a criminal complaint against Kim without delay over the false statements. "I will not let this slide this time," he said, adding that the Democratic Party needed to be taught a lesson for repeatedly trying to muddy the waters.