There is mounting speculation that President Lee Jae Myung’s spokesperson Kim Nam-joon may run in a by-election for Incheon’s Gyeyang-B constituency at the National Assembly.
In the latest, the main opposition fueled such expectations Thursday by claiming that Lee “openly endorsed” his spokesperson by having Kim accompany him to a church service that day in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, to celebrate Christmas.
In one of the photos released Thursday by the presidential office, Lee, his wife Kim Hea Kyung and spokesperson Kim sat side by side on a pew at Haein Church in Incheon.
Rep. Choi Eun-seok, senior floor spokesperson of the main opposition People Power Party, described this as the president’s attempt to “blatantly interfere in the election” in the Incheon constituency.
“Next to the president was spokesperson Kim, who has been rumored to be running in the National Assembly by-election,” Choi noted in his statement.
Calling the gesture the president’s “open endorsement of a specific candidate” — deemed a violation of South Korea’s election rule that mandates political neutrality for public officials — Choi said the presidential office tried to “turn a Christmas prayer into a venue for an election campaign.”
Before his inauguration in June this year, Lee was elected two times as a lawmaker for the Gyeyang-B constituency until he stepped down to become president. The election to fill the post will be held simultaneously with the 2026 local elections in June.
Kim, who began working with Lee in 2014 when Lee was mayor of Seongnam, joined the presidential office as Lee’s personal secretary in June. Kim became Lee’s spokesperson in September.
In a post on Facebook, Kim said he was disappointed to see the “unreasonable logic” to interpret his holiday duty on Christmas as election interference.
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