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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Democratic Party seeks disciplinary action against lawmaker for May 18 remarks

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The Democratic Party submitted a motion to the National Assembly seeking disciplinary action against People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-suk for allegedly distorting and denigrating the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.
  • Democratic Party lawmakers stated that Lee's actions challenge the spirit of the constitution and the May 18 movement, constituting a second offense against victims and their families.
  • The motion follows a forum hosted by Lee Jin-suk where a professor allegedly made disparaging remarks about the May 18 movement, and a previous submission of a resolution urging Lee's expulsion.

The Democratic Party has escalated its response to People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-suk's alleged distortion and denigration of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. The party submitted a motion to the National Assembly on May 21, calling for disciplinary action against Lee.

Lee's actions challenge the spirit of our constitution and the May 18 spirit. It is a second offense against those who sacrificed themselves and their families, and an insult to the 3.2 million citizens of Gwangju and Jeonnam.

— An Do-geolDemocratic Party lawmaker An Do-geol speaking to reporters after submitting the disciplinary motion.

An Do-geol, the Democratic Party's Gwangju-Jeonnam integrated special city party chairman, stated that Lee's actions challenge the spirit of the constitution and the May 18 movement. He described the forum hosted by Lee as a "second offense" against the victims and their families, and an insult to the 3.2 million citizens of Gwangju and Jeonnam.

Lee Ju-hee, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, indicated that the disciplinary motion would undergo internal party ratification. She emphasized the strong anger among the citizens of Gwangju and Jeonnam, urging the National Assembly to quickly form a special committee on ethics to process Lee's disciplinary case.

The disciplinary motion will likely go through the party's ratification process. The anger of the citizens of Gwangju and Jeonnam is very high. The National Assembly must form a special committee on ethics as soon as possible to process Lee's disciplinary motion.

— Lee Ju-heeDemocratic Party floor spokesperson Lee Ju-hee explaining the next steps for the disciplinary motion.

The controversy stems from a forum Lee Jin-suk hosted on May 13, where the keynote speaker, former Seoul National University professor Lee Young-hoon, reportedly referred to the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement as a "ten-day disturbance in Gwangju." The Democratic Party has vowed to pursue Lee's expulsion or, at minimum, a suspension of her parliamentary activities. This move is supported by approximately 3,000 members of the People Power Party who also filed a complaint against Lee with her party's ethics committee.

The Democratic Party will definitely achieve Lee's expulsion, or at least a suspension of her activities.

— Kim Min-seokDemocratic Party leader Kim Min-seok's statement on X (formerly Twitter).
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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