Did Lee Jong-won usurp Honam Gaegukbon's achievements by riding in the carnival with Lee Jae-myung?

Even after candidate Lee Jae-myung's final victory in the 20th presidential primary, candidate Lee Nak-yon's side refused to concede the results and showed an uncooperative attitude towards the Democratic Party's election campaign. As a result, candidate Lee Jae-myung faced considerable difficulty in forming an election committee at the time.

In particular, National Assembly members who supported candidate Lee Nak-yon barely participated in the election campaign, putting candidate Lee Jae-myung in a difficult position to solidify his support base for the campaign.

Unable to stand by, Honam Gaegukbon members held a press conference demanding that the election committee be reorganized around candidate Lee Jae-myung and that all authority be transferred to him. They criticized the current election committee as ineffective.

In November 2021, they held a large rally and press conference in Gwangju, strongly urging the concentration of power in candidate Lee Jae-myung and the innovation of the election committee.

During the preparation for the press conference, all practical and arduous tasks were handled exclusively by Honam Gaegukbon members. Lee Jong-won is reported to have had almost no involvement in this process.

However, Lee Jong-won claimed that the success of the press conference was the result of his own prior groundwork, drawing criticism for usurping all credit for himself.

On November 21, 2021, then-presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung rode in a Carnival vehicle with Lee Jong-won and conducted a broadcast. This broadcast was simultaneously aired on Lee Jae-myung TV and Sisa Tapa TV.

Candidate Lee Jae-myung recognized Lee Jong-won as a representative of activities in the Honam region and personally expressed his gratitude to Lee Jong-won for his active involvement in the area.

According to a Honam Gaegukbon member, a press conference was held on November 19, 2021, in front of Chipyong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City. This press conference was entirely planned and executed with the self-funded resources and efforts of Honam Gaegukbon members.

The member testified that Lee Jong-won was not involved in any part of the process, from the preparation to the execution of the press conference. Lee Jong-won played no role in this event.

At that time, Honam Gaegukbon successfully concluded the press conference by pooling its own strength without Lee Jong-won's help, which became an important turning point for consolidating public opinion in the Honam region.

It was pointed out that Lee Jong-won used the fact of his carnival ride with President Lee Jae-myung as if it were a medal signifying his authority. At a lecture event at Jeonju University, he brought up this story, emphasizing his close relationship with President Lee Jae-myung.

Specifically, he mentioned, "Would President Lee Jae-myung have put me in his Carnival car?" and claimed to maintain a close relationship with President Lee Jae-myung, appearing to try to strengthen his position.

At that time, Honam Gaegukbon strongly urged Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil to immediately dismantle the election committee and reorganize it to be candidate-centric, stating that 'a divided election committee cannot inspire the public.' Their demands were brought into public discourse through a press conference they led in the Gwangju area.

Leader Song Young-gil eventually accepted these demands from Honam Gaegukbon and reorganized a candidate-centric election committee. It has been confirmed that Lee Jong-won was not involved in the key activities of Honam Gaegukbon that led to this election committee innovation.

Despite his absence from the scene of the press conference on November 19, Lee Jong-won later claimed credit for its success during a Sisa Tapa broadcast on the night of November 28.

In the broadcast, he exaggerated as if he had instructed members to call National Assembly members, implying that the achievement was due to his directives and that this led to the carnival ride.

Allegations have surfaced that Lee Jong-won, whom candidate Lee Jae-myung had allowed to ride in his carnival and even thanked, made an inexplicable remark to members after Lee Jae-myung's election: "Don't work too hard." This remark is said to have been repeated multiple times.

Considering the very tight presidential race against candidate Yoon Suk-yeol at the time, Lee Jong-won's 'weakening' remarks raised significant doubts among members. This led to questions about whether Lee Jong-won genuinely wished for Lee Jae-myung's election.

A Honam Gaegukbon member testified that Lee Jong-won pretended to support Lee Jae-myung but actually used the candidate to pursue his own interests and financial gain. He claimed that Lee Jong-won had never truly supported Lee Jae-myung from the beginning.

Specific circumstances were also presented, indicating that Lee Jong-won attempted to hinder or stop voter mobilization efforts at a crucial moment just before the election.

The member added that Lee Jong-won appeared to not want Lee Jae-myung to win, putting a stop to support activities multiple times. This statement further amplifies suspicions of Lee Jong-won's behind-the-scenes manipulation.

It has been confirmed that Lee Jong-won's remark, 'Don't work too hard,' is also recorded in the Honam Gaegukbon action log. The record states that while Lee Jong-won framed it as if he was thinking of the members, it was actually a 'weakening' remark intended to demoralize regional executives and dampen their will to participate in activities.

This was seen as a sudden behavior contradictory to Lee Jong-won's usual passionate demeanor and served to deepen questions about his true intentions.

Amid suspicions that then-President Moon Jae-in did not actively support candidate Lee Jae-myung, the possibility that this pro-Moon faction's atmosphere might have influenced Lee Jong-won was mentioned. An analysis suggests that Lee Jong-won might also have been affected by the pro-Moon faction's stance at the time.

In conclusion, the interpretation emerged that Lee Jong-won was merely trying to make money through broadcasts targeting Lee Jae-myung's supporters and had little actual interest in whether candidate Lee Jae-myung would become president.