Celebrity writer breaks silence on politician-actress affair
Lee Jae-myung, left, a leading candidate for the Gyeonggi gubernatorial election, and actress Kim Bu-seon
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By Kang Hyun-kyung
Author Gong Ji-young has broken her silence about the rumor that Lee Jae-myung, a leading candidate for the Gyeonggi gubernatorial election, had an affair with actress Kim Bu-seon who is three years his senior.
Gong claimed she heard about the scandal two years ago from journalist Joo Jin-woo who is close to Lee, 54, and knows about the affair better than anyone else.
“At that time Joo and I were in a car heading somewhere. We were talking about the candidates for the then forthcoming presidential election,” she wrote in a social media post Thursday. “I myself was (and still am) a supporter of Moon Jae-in for the presidential election but also liked Lee Jae-myung. So I told him about my preferred politicians. Upon hearing this, Joo was embarrassed and told me Lee had an affair with actress Kim. He went on to say that he (and others) were trying to persuade Kim not to reveal this, but the problem was barely solved.”
Gong said she was in disbelief at what she heard about Lee, so she asked the reporter if what he had said was true. “He said he and others were still talking to Kim. I was so disappointed by Lee.”
The author said she decided to gather the courage to speak about what she knew because she wanted to help out the actress who had problems after the affair with the politician was made public ahead of the June 13 local elections.
The writer deleted her Facebook post Friday as it caused a stir and a backlash from Lee supporters.
Gong, who has released several best-selling books including “Our Happy Time” (2004) since she made her literary debut in 1988 with the short story “Dawn,” is an outspoken writer. She has spoken of her liberal political orientation on several occasions and openly supported such politicians, including the late President Roh Moo-hyun.
The scandal surfaced in May when minor opposition Barenmirae Party candidate Kim Young-hwan raised the allegation to discredit the leading candidate of the ruling Democratic Party.
Lee, 54, immediately denied it and maintained he had met Kim several times while participating in rallies but never had intimate relations with her.
The two candidates have since exchanged a war of words over the matter.
The issue took a drastic turn Thursday after a voice recording of the actress speaking about her relationship with the politician was posted on YouTube.
In the recording, Kim, a costar in several films including “Spirit of Jeet Keun Do” (2004), confirmed her affair with the politician and claimed their relationship had lasted for 15 months between December 2007 and May 2009. Lee visited Kim's apartment in Seoul most of the time, she claimed.
The actress said she met with the politician because she was “lonely.”
“He didn't pay me and enjoyed my company for free. I tried to protect him and lied about our relationship twice (after the scandal was reported) but he is now painting me as a patient suffering from mythomania,” she said in the voice note.
Earlier, Kim had denied the affair after the issue was raised in late May during a KBS TV debate among candidates running in the election to select the Gyeonggi Province governor.
In the audio, Kim said she was terrified with the thought of the man she had an affair with but denied for his sake becoming president someday. “If he is elected president (in the future), I think he would be even worse than Park Geun-hye.”
Lee has kept denying the affair happened, claiming it was a baseless, politically-motivated allegation ahead of the election.