Did the leader of South Korea's main opposition party, Lee Jae-myung, suggest he was a North Korean spy or favored North Korea when he said "our North Korea" during a speech? No, that's not true: He said "our North Korea" but only in the context of condemning North Korea.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) by @user223017562928 on TikTok on January 29, 2024. The narration (translated from Korean to English by Lead Stories staff) was:
After Lee Jae-myung's speech identifying him as a North Korean spy was livestreamed, people heavily criticized him.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Feb 7 03:10:45 2024 UTC)
The video shows a sentence in a speech by Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung at a daily council meeting held on January 18, 2024 (archived here). According to a transcript, Lee said (as translated):
They have to try their best to not disparage, or damage their former leaders' - our North Korea's Kim Jeong-il and Kim Il-seong's - effort.'
The post claimed that it shows Lee is a pro-North Korean politician or even a North Korean spy.
However, in the speech Lee condemned North Korea for its hostile attitudes towards South Korea and demanded North Korea stop hostile military actions and de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
At the 2:02 mark in the video, Lee said (as translated):
We need wisdom to stop hostile actions and de-escalate the tension in the Korean Peninsula. Kim Jeong-un must stop his missile provocation and hostile actions right now. If North Korea keeps going along with its reckless provocation, it will be isolated in the international community, and North Korean people will suffer even more. They have to try their best to not disparage, or damage their former leaders' - our North Korea's Kim Jeong-il and Kim Il-seong's - effort.
