Jang Dong-hyuk, the party's representative, stated at a central election committee meeting in Yeouido, "I hope the Election Commission and police will immediately investigate MBC and thoroughly uncover the truth."
He added, "The 'M' in MBC seems to stand for the Democratic Party," questioning how a technical error could occur when election laws prohibit editing broadcast debates. "Editing should not be possible in the first place, so how could there be a technical accident?"
Jang also called for a thorough investigation into any directives or involvement from higher-ups, as well as connections with the Democratic Party, asserting, "If such manipulation continues in election broadcasts, it will lead to even more frightening election manipulation than the Druking scandal."
Jung Hee-yong, the party's secretary-general, described the complete omission of Kim's opening remarks as a serious issue that clouds voters' judgment and undermines the integrity of the electoral process. He pointed out that this editing directly violates Article 82, Section 1 of the Public Official Election Act, which states that broadcasts must not be edited.
He further noted that the debate was conducted in a one-take format, making separate editing unnecessary, and argued that the selective editing of Kim's remarks cannot be dismissed as a mere technical error. He criticized Daejeon MBC's apology as evasive and inconsistent with the facts.
The People Power Party plans to collaborate with Kim's team to file a complaint with the Election Broadcasting Deliberation Committee and the National Election Commission, as well as pursue criminal charges.
Earlier, on May 21, Daejeon MBC aired the debate without Kim's one-minute opening remarks. The network later explained that the omission was a mistake made during the editing of outtakes from the recording process.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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