hankyoreh

Kang Hye-kyeong speaks to Hankyoreh 21 at an office near the Gimpo International Airport in Seoul on Nov. 1, 2024. (Kim Myoung-jin/Hankyoreh)

New whistleblower testimony has come out claiming that Myung Tae-kyun, a key figure in revelations of alleged meddling by the president and first lady in nominations for public office, had designs on setting up a “shadow Yeouido Institute” to conduct polls and create reports on trends in public opinion for the president around June 2022 under the orders of “Yongsan” — shorthand for the presidential office. 

As the ruling party’s think tank, the real Yeouido Institute conducts polls and develops policy. The new testimony indicates that the presidential office attempted to create a separate organ that would conduct similar studies under its direct control. 

In an exclusive interview with Hankyoreh 21 on Friday at an office near Gimpo International Airport, Kang Hye-kyeong, the key whistleblower who brought the scandal to light, talked about the phone conversation in which Myung browbeat former lawmaker Kim Young-sun in June 2022, shortly after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s inauguration. 

“Myung wanted to operate a think tank exclusive to Yongsan that would conduct its own polls and generate reports for internal use by Yongsan, like the Yeouido Institute does,” Kang said. 

“I know that Myung talked with President Yoon on the phone after Yoon’s inauguration, and that he frequently was in contact with Kim Keon-hee,” she added. 

Kang mentioned that around the same time, Myung said that he was “going to get a contract from Yongsan to conduct regular polls,” and that “Yongsan will regularly commission us for our own polls, which can serve as references, like the ones done by the Yeouido Institute. It’s within the realm of politics and society, so there’s no problem in us accepting the commissions, and there’s no problem with making them [the reports].” 

In audio recordings of Myung’s phone conversations in June 2022 made public by the Democratic Party on Thursday, Myung can be heard browbeating Kim Young-sun: “The president said he’ll take care of everything, so what’s the problem? I told you I received direct orders [from the president]. I told you we got an order. Kim Keon-hee holds the power. The person with the power has given an order, so why are you making a fuss about it?” 

Kang said that by securing a contract to establish a shadow polling institute from Yoon via Kim Keon-hee, Myung’s plans clashed with those of Kim Young-sun, who wanted to expand the Future Korea Research Institute’s operations to Seoul, where they would receive commissions from media outlets and operate as an official think tank. 

According to Kang, Myung was especially furious about Kim Young-sun attempting to use the Future Korea Research Institute’s Seoul branch in the Namdaemun area as a base of operations for this plan without consulting Myung beforehand. 

It appears that the president also rejected Kim Young-sun’s plans. 

During a phone conversation with Kim Young-sun at the time, Myung said: “Yoon Suk-yeol called me today. You know what he said to me? Why don’t you just do as you’re told?”

“So should I just go around soliciting media outlets for contracts? Like some traveling salesman? Huh? If I do that, what do you think Kim Keon-hee and the president will say?”

Myung continued during the phone call: “Should I just tell the president: You’re the president, but since you don’t have much [favorable] opinion because of the change in government, so just deal with it. Should I tell him that?” 

“You should get the ARS [automated response system] the Blue House [Yongsan] uses for local surveys. If I generate profits or make money or do something like that, you [Kim Young-sun] will never get the nomination,” Myung added.

Myung was hinting that he had conducted unreleased surveys to add the president’s approval ratings and report them to him, and that this activity was not unrelated to Kim Young-sun’s political nomination.

If the connection between Myung and Yongsan is proven to be fact, Yoon will be unable to avoid accusations of breaking the law. 

“If he [Yoon] utilized funds to mobilize a shadow organization for conducting opinion polls, depending on the purpose of those polls, that money could constitute violations of the Political Funds Act,” said Lim Ji-bong, a professor of constitutional law at Sogang University Law School, 

“If he [Yoon] provided money or valuables or the promise of a political nomination in exchange for conducting an opinion poll without going through the proper legal processes, that would be a violation of the Political Funds Act and grounds for impeachment. It could also constitute election interference according to the Public Official Election Act,” said Yi Zoon-il, a professor at Korea University Law School. 

“The explanation from the president’s chief of staff, Chung Jin-suk, that President Yoon cut ties [with Myung] around the time of the [presidential] primaries, and then received a congratulatory call from Myung at a much later time, turned out to be a lie,” said Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Yu-jung.

“We must appoint a special counsel to investigate whether, after confirming the power of undisclosed opinion polls during his experiences in the presidential race, Yoon used the shadowy figure of Myung to manipulating public opinion like his approval rating, and hold him to account,” she said. 

Hankyoreh 21 contacted the presidential office on Sunday for comment, but received no response. 

By Kim Wan, staff reporter; Kwan Jin-san, staff reporter

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