On the 26th, Representative Choi Min-hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, who serves as the Chairperson of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and faced controversy for holding her daughter's wedding during the National Audit, is seen checking a Telegram message regarding wedding gift money at the National Assembly plenary session hall. This message, which lists names of large corporations and media outlets alongside monetary amounts, is presumed to be an exchange with her aides during the process of returning the funds. Provided by Yonhap News/Seoul Shinmun. 

Representative Choi Min-hee, Chairperson of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, stated on the 26th that regarding the wedding gift money received at her daughter's wedding held at the National Assembly during the National Audit period, she "instructed her aides to return the money received from institutions and companies."

Earlier, a media outlet captured a scene of Chairperson Choi checking a Telegram message during a plenary session that contained the amounts of wedding gift money she had received from entities such as domestic conglomerates, media outlets, audit-subject institutions, and some politicians.

The message listed amounts such as '1 million won,' '200,000 won,' '500,000 won,' '300,000 won,' and a 'total of 9.3 million won' next to a list of audit-subject institutions and companies. Other messages included, "9 million won deposit completed" and "300,000 won delivered to Chief Kim."

In response, Representative Choi’s office explained in a notice that "the message in question contains instructions given by Representative Choi to return the wedding gift money received from institutions and companies."

Representative Choi's office stated, "Since the National Audit continued throughout last week and the couple was very busy, we checked the list of wedding gifts today."

They further added, "We decided to return 'gift money received from institutions and companies related to the standing committee' and 'gift money that exceeded customary amounts from those not related to the committee but based on personal acquaintance,' and delivered that list and the amounts (to the aides)," adding, "There were cases where identities could not be determined by names alone, so we plan to continue the process as we verify them."

As reports of the Telegram message surfaced, the People Power Party launched an all-out offensive.

Chief Spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon said in a commentary, "A controversy has erupted after a media outlet captured Chairperson Choi—who had already been criticized for holding her daughter's wedding during the National Audit—receiving a report regarding wedding gift money in the plenary session hall," and pointed out, "As the Chair of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, receiving wedding money and congratulatory wreaths from audit-subject institutions during the audit period is a clear act of conflict of interest."

She added, "Although Chairperson Choi's side explained that they 'intended to return the money from sources with a conflict of interest,' the fact remains that the money was already collected. In fact, the specific amounts collected have now been revealed. There is also a possibility of a violation of the Kim Young-ran Act."

Spokesperson Cho Yong-sul also remarked through a commentary, "Was the quantum mechanics that Chairperson Choi claimed to have studied actually just arithmetic for counting money?" and added, "Will the Democratic Party continue to protect Chairperson Choi even after this? The Democratic Party must apologize to the public and hold her strictly politically accountable."

Representative Kim Jang-gyeom of the People Power Party, who is on the same committee, wrote on Facebook, "During the last National Audit, I suggested to Chairperson Choi that we should request records of expenditures and legal grounds for wreaths and wedding gifts from audit-subject institutions and companies through a committee resolution." He added, "She refused adamantly, and now we know why."

He urged her to resign, stating, "Under the Kim Young-ran Act, audit-subject institutions may only provide a combined total of 100,000 won or less in wedding gifts and wreaths."

Yonhap News