South Korean lawmaker Kwon criticizes cancellation of Philippine loan project as ”the same oppression of political opponents as Moon administration”

On the 9th, Kwon Seong-dong, a lawmaker from the conservative opposition People Power Party, spoke out against Lee Jae-myung, the former president of the South Korean government, for allegedly interfering in a Philippine loan project.
Regarding the president's order to stop the investigation, he strongly criticized it, saying, "This is essentially the same suppression of political opponents as when President Moon Jae-in personally intervened in the past and ordered an investigation into me."
On the same day, Rep. Kwon wrote on his Facebook page, "Right after the proposal to approve my arrest was reported in the National Assembly today, President Lee suddenly criticized me and said, 'We are not going to cooperate with the Philippines in the international economic cooperation.'
"President Lee is making a fuss as if he protected 700 billion won (approximately 74.3 billion yen), but this is not true," Rep. Kwon said.
"This simply shows that the government does not even understand the basics of government policy," he said. "The order was placed in October 2024 for a feasibility study, which is a full-scale review process for all official development assistance projects."
"The project feasibility study is an independent review by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Export-Import Bank of Korea.
"The National Assembly has the authority to review and approve the bill, and it is not something that can be influenced by individual members of the National Assembly," he said. "In the end, President Lee's criticism is a political show to hide his own incompetence and justify the oppression of political opponents."
"There is a line that must not be crossed even in the oppression of the opposition party. That line is national interest and diplomatic relations between countries," said Rep. Kwon. "President Lee is not in a political battle, but is focused on national interest and diplomatic relations.
He added, "We should focus on the people, not on eliminating the enemy." His remarks were made in February last year when a weekly current affairs magazine reported that "in February last year, the Ministry of Planning and Finance deemed it a 'bad business with concerns of corruption' and withdrew the EDCF loan.
In response to a report that a 700 billion won civil engineering project in the Philippines, which had been refused funding, was resumed due to pressure from lawmaker Kwon on then Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok and others.
President Lee shared the article on his Facebook page that morning, saying, "I have ordered the immediate suspension of the project. Fortunately, the project has not yet begun."
"We are not yet at the stage where the project has been approved, so no expenditures have been made on projects such as EDCF support," he said.