Controversy grows over Jim Rogers' ‘endorsement' of Lee Jae-myung
Investor tells The Korea Herald he does not support or endorse anyone
Rival parties on Monday bickered over the authenticity of the Democratic Party of Korea's claims of veteran US investor Jim Rogers' letter of "endorsement" of its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung.
The controversy snowballed Monday after Rogers denied his endorsement of Lee in several interviews with local media from late Sunday.
In an email inquiry from The Korea Herald, Rogers replied, "I do not support or endorse or anything any candidate there," when asked whether he supports or has endorsed Lee.
The Democratic Party refuted the investor's remarks in a joint statement released to the press by Kim Jin-hyang, the former head of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and Song Kyung-ho, a professor at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, who is based in London. The two were closely involved in the process of receiving the letter from Rogers and announcing it to the public.
Song explained in the statement that Rogers did express his 'support' for Lee, which was interpreted as his endorsement of the candidate, which he said he regretted. Kim said Rogers' 'support of candidate Lee Jae-myung' was real, while admitting that there were 'some mistakes' made in the communication between Song and the US investor.
The two also included screen captures of the conversation between Rogers and Song regarding Rogers' 'support' of Lee on the messenger app WeChat from May 26 to May 29.
The screen-captured images showed that Rogers replied 'Thanks! This is fine' to a document titled 'A Message from Jim Rogers: Peace and Opportunity on the Korean Peninsula' drafted by Song. Song has asked for confirmation on whether he could release the document under Rogers' name, according to the images.
However, the version shared on WeChat showed a toned-down version of the document later released to the public by the Democratic Party. The version drafted by Song and confirmed by Rogers said "That is why I recognize the pragmatic approach of Lee Jae-myung, a leader who is focused not on ideology or political distractions."
The version of the document released by the Democratic Party shows Rogers saying, "That is why I strongly support Lee Jae Myung," instead of "I recognize the pragmatic approach." Rogers then says "Let us invest in peace. Let us invest in the future. Let us invest in Korea. So now. ... The choice is Lee Jae-myung." He calls Lee "a leader with the courage and vision to end the era of confrontation and open a new chapter of peace, growth, and global leadership for Korea."
The People Power Party denounced the Democratic Party's claims as 'an international fraud' and called for Lee to drop out of the presidential race.
People Power Party Interim Chair Kim Yong-tae said during the party's election committee meeting held Monday morning that the Democratic Party's claims are 'incorrect stories spread by a person who met (Rogers) briefly a few years ago.'
On Thursday, several members of the Democratic Party's central election committee announced in a press conference that Rogers decided to 'endorse' Lee. The 8-minute press conference was entirely dedicated to Rogers.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
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