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.
The document released by the Democratic Party shows Rogers saying, "Let us invest in peace. Let us invest in the future. Let us invest in Korea. So now. ... The choice is Lee Jae-myung." Rogers then adds he "strongly supports" Lee Jae Myung, calling him "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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
![[Editorial] A crucial vote amid crisis](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fall-logos-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fkoreaherald.com.png&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Korea Herald
4 hours ago
- Korea Herald
[Editorial] A crucial vote amid crisis
South Koreans vote to elect new leader following Yoon's ouster over martial law South Koreans went to the polls on Tuesday in what may come to be seen as one of the most pivotal elections in the nation's modern democratic history. The June 3 vote was called after the dramatic downfall of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and removed from office earlier this spring for attempting to invoke martial law in December 2024. Against a backdrop of economic malaise, diplomatic strain and a public weary of political dysfunction, the election became a test not only of leadership but of institutional resilience. Voters appeared engaged despite a dispiriting campaign. Turnout in advanced voting reached 34.74 percent — the second highest since the introduction of early voting in 2014 — suggesting a public alert to the stakes. Yet the process itself was marred by logistical lapses. The National Election Commission came under fire for mismanagement, with critics warning that such failures could undermine procedural legitimacy at a moment when public trust is already fraying. The frontrunner heading into the Election Day was Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, a sharp-elbowed populist who has, in recent months, sought to soften his image and reposition himself as a pragmatist. A former governor and one-time presidential contender who narrowly lost to Yoon in 2022, Lee returned to the national stage promising diplomatic realism and a business-friendly policy approach. His principal rival, Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party, is a former labor activist turned hard-right loyalist who remained closely aligned with the disgraced Yoon. As of press time, the final result had yet to be declared. But barring a late upset, Lee's sustained advantage in polls suggested he was on track to win. If there was a decisive loser in this campaign, it was the quality of public discourse. Policy debate was scarce. Personal invective, theatrical gestures and hastily assembled populist pledges dominated the three televised debates. Substance took a back seat to spectacle. Both major candidates offered sweeping economic proposals, including trillion-won supplementary budgets and emergency task forces to stimulate growth. The divergence lay more in emphasis than in content: Lee cast himself as a reformer intent on resetting the terms between capital and labor; Kim struck a more orthodox note, emphasizing security and traditional conservative themes. The Democratic Party's legislative tactics added further volatility. In early May, the party pushed through amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act and the Public Official Election Act — changes that could delay criminal trials for sitting presidents and redefine legal boundaries for campaign statements. Critics called the move an effort to shield Lee from ongoing investigations. The perception that institutional rules were being bent to serve political ends hung heavily over the race. Whoever assumes office will inherit a formidable to-do list. The economy is sputtering under the weight of falling exports, sluggish domestic spending and rising fiscal burdens. US President Donald Trump has imposed heavy tariffs on Korean goods and raised doubts about the durability of the security alliance. North Korea's weapons program continues apace, while maritime tensions with China in the West Sea remain unresolved. Domestically, political polarization runs deep, exacerbated by a campaign that stoked division rather than dialogue. This election was never just about choosing a new head of state. It was about reaffirming democratic norms in the wake of a constitutional crisis. The damage wrought by Yoon's overreach cannot be allowed to define the country's political future. The incoming president must not only claim a mandate but embody it by restoring public trust, re-engaging internationally and showing restraint in the exercise of power. Losing candidates, too, bear a responsibility: to respect the outcome and resist the temptation to turn disappointment into obstruction. Democracy is sustained not merely by ballots but by norms, responsibility and restraint. South Korea has faced darker chapters and emerged stronger. Let this be such a moment: a turn from rupture to repair, from disarray to accountability. The people have spoken. Now the burden of democracy shifts to those they have chosen to lead.
Korea Herald
7 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee Jae-myung: Outsider's climb to top
From factory boy to president, Lee says he was driven by rage at inequality Projected victory of Lee Jae-myung is a "win for those who are not part of the establishment, and outside the mainstream," the Democratic Party of Korea believes. Lee's political journey has been rocky and drama-filled, to say the least. "It's not easy working for Lee Jae-myung. Things always seem to happen to him. But he is a guy who gets up every time," one of his close aides told The Korea Herald. At a campaign rally Saturday in Daejeon, one of the swing cities being watched closely, Lee boasted that he has "dodged every bullet that came my way." Over the campaign, Lee shrugged off his criminal trials, cited as one of his most critical liabilities, claiming he had been wrongfully charged by prosecutors. Lee, who likes to describe himself as an outsider, started off at the Democratic Party in 2007 as a "lowly" deputy spokesperson, a role that is usually given to novice politicians who have not yet won public office. Not many of the people who knew Lee from his very early days are still around. But the tale goes that even then, Lee was more ambitious than a typical deputy spokesperson. Lee felt he was snubbed by mainstream Democratic Party lawmakers at the time, according to an insider account, and that it was what drove him. Lee left the Seoul stage for 11 years, serving as Seongnam mayor and then as Gyeonggi Province governor, until 2021. When Lee won the Democratic Party's nomination for president in the 2022 race, at the second attempt, it was a political Cinderella story. Past presidential nominees of the Democratic Party, more often than not, had made it to the top of the party before they could launch a bid, working from their way up from the inside. Lee did it from the outside in. "Do you know why they are so afraid of Lee Jae-myung? It's because I came from the fringes. I make the establishment uncomfortable," Lee told a roaring crowd of supporters on Saturday. Policy bulldozer Lee first made his name as fiery mayor of Seongnam, a city in the southern part of Gyeonggi, the province that surrounds Seoul, where he served for two consecutive terms from 2010 to 2018. Lee's signature policy from his Seongnam era is his "free" welfare program that was taken to the Supreme Court for allegedly violating the laws on social security. This is when Lee's experiment with universal basic income began, and when he learned of its popular appeal. Lee, vowing to make Seongnam the "city of free welfare benefits," doled out vouchers that can be used like cash in the city in spite of fiscal concerns. By the time Lee became governor of Gyeonggi Province, the most populous of any municipality with 13 million people, in 2018, his name was more recognized nationally. As governor, Lee was known for pushing through tough COVID-19 restrictions, which were cheered by people who were fed up with the pandemic. In 2020, Lee live-streamed himself busting a church in Gyeonggi Province that became the site of an outbreak, and took a nasal swab from the pastor on tape — something he is still remembered by. Unlikely hero Neither Lee's notorious foul-mouthed rant at his sister-in-law, the recording of which was leaked to the public, nor his alleged affair with an actress, significantly hurt his popularity. After his defeat to former President Yoon Suk Yeol three years ago, Lee ran for and won a seat on the National Assembly, which was criticized as a possible ploy to evade his legal problems as sitting lawmakers have immunity from certain criminal proceedings. Lee eventually sat on the top of the Democratic Party leadership ladder, and while he was the party's chair, almost had an arrest warrant out against him. Lee is "more like a villain, albeit a popular villain, than a hero," a Democratic Party insider said. "Sure he may not play nice. But you know what? You can count on him to get things done." Lee's rise is often seen as a modern Korean dream. At 54, he launched his first presidential bid in 2017 at the Seongnam factory where he had worked as a child to support his family. Standing beside his mother, he recalled losing function in one arm from an accident there — an injury that left a lasting disability. Despite no formal schooling, Lee passed the bar, graduated from Chung-Ang University, and engaged in civic activism as a practicing lawyer before entering politics. Lee once said he is motivated by anger.
Korea Herald
7 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee Jae-myung promises to end 'political, economic crisis' in victory speech
Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday pledged to end the political crisis caused by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law, revive the faltering economy, achieve peaceful coexistence of the two Koreas and strive for national unity as in a victory speech after Tuesday's election. Speaking in front of about 5,000 people who gathered near the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Lee said he would restore democracy and bring an end to hatred between people and focus on addressing people's burden from the rising cost of living. Lee also said that peace on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue, communication and coexistence will also play a crucial role in "preventing people's livelihoods from further worsening." Lee also expressed gratitude to those who voted for him, describing himself as "a person with high chance of winning" the presidential election. "Since the night of the Dec. 3 insurrection until now ... I tried to prove that all power exercised by the president comes from the people ... not for the personal benefit of the president," said the 60-year-old. "Now, after six months have passed, you have finally proven with your vote that we hold the political power in this country." This followed his visit to the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, as he made the first public appearance since the vote count began, in front of his home alongside his wife Kim Hye-kyung. Lee and Kim left their home in Incheon at around 11:50 p.m. Tuesday. "The people's great decision deserves respect," Lee said, pledging to do his utmost to meet people's expectations, minutes after broadcasters called the election for Lee. Lee is set to assume the presidency immediately after the election authorities confirm Lee's victory. There is no transition period, since the previous president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was ousted via impeachment. According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee was considering nominating four-term Democratic Party lawmaker Rep. Kim Min-seok as the prime minister, three-term lawmaker Rep. Kang Hoon-sik as his chief of staff, and Lee Han-joo, former head of the Institute for Democracy — a think tank of the party — as the director of national policy at the presidential office. Lee was expected to officially announce his nominations later Wednesday, Yonhap added.
