Seoul: A special counsel team raided the home of minor party leader Lee Jun-seok on Monday as part of its investigation into former first lady Kim Keon Hee's alleged election meddling. Investigators from special counsel Min Joong-ki's team arrived at the home of the New Reform Party (NRP) leader in Seoul's northern Nowon district to seize documents and computer files.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee is a reference witness in the election meddling case, which centers on allegations that former first lady Kim, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, intervened in the nomination of People Power Party (PPP) candidates for parliamentary elections in 2022 and 2024. The special counsel team is seeking to verify claims that Lee met with self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun and former PPP Rep. Kim Young-sun ahead of the April 2024 general elections. They allegedly discussed a potential exchange in which Kim Young-sun would publicly disclose the former first lady's election meddling in return for the New Reform Party's nomination of Kim Young-sun for a proportional representation seat.
Lee criticized the special counsel's raid as "politically motivated" and questioned the timing of the search, which came just a day after he reclaimed the leadership of the minor conservative NRP he founded. "The timing (of the raid) is highly suspicious from our perspective," Lee said on cable broadcaster Channel A's YouTube channel. "Is it really necessary to suddenly carry out a raid when I am not even a suspect caught in the act?"
Lee explained that he had already appeared before prosecutors last November as a reference witness and provided clear clarification denying the allegations. The party's supreme council had planned to hold its first meeting since Lee's reelection, but it was canceled due to the raid.