[Anchor]
People Power Party Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook, who previously sparked controversy by organizing a forum denigrating the May 18 Democratization Movement, has now caused another stir by proposing related legislation. The bills seek to publicly disclose the list of May 18 persons of merit and their bereaved families. The Democratic Party declared it would block the legislation, calling it "an obvious violation of the Personal Information Protection Act and secondary victimization."
Jeong Yunsik reports.
[Reporter]
People Power Party Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook previously hosted a National Assembly forum where remarks were made calling the May 18 Democratization Movement a "riot" and denying former President Chun Doo-hwan's responsibility.
[Joo Dong-sik / Former head of People Power Party Gwangju Seo-gu Gap chapter (August 13): "(Whenever Chun Doo-hwan is brought up,) they have unconditionally framed him as a mass murderer, a perpetrator, and a villain."]
About a month later, at a rally held at the National Assembly, she made the following claim.
[Lee Jin-sook / People Power Party Lawmaker (September 10): "Because it is done behind closed doors, no one knows how persons of merit are selected, or whether it costs 10 billion, 20 billion, or 100 billion won a year."]
Citing doubts about the transparency of the selection process for May 18 Democratization Movement persons of merit, she sponsored three related bills. The proposals call for an annual public disclosure of the list of May 18 democratic persons of merit and their bereaved or surviving family members, and adding the phrase "Gwangju-related areas" to the legal definition of the May 18 Democratization Movement.
Related organizations, including the May 18 Memorial Foundation, demanded the immediate withdrawal of the bills, saying they diminish the historical significance of the May 18 movement and could expose those involved to secondary harm.
The Democratic Party also pledged to stop the legislation, denouncing it as "despicable politics with obvious malicious intent."
[Han Byung-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader: "Disclosing the list is an obvious violation of the Personal Information Protection Act and secondary victimization. It merely complies with the demands of far-right forces who seek to stigmatize May 18 victims and use them as targets for attacks."]
Previously, in a lawsuit regarding requests to disclose the list of May 18 persons of merit, the court ruled that non-disclosure was lawful, stating that "there is a significant risk of privacy infringement, and the lists of other national persons of merit are not disclosed either." That ruling was finalized in 2020.
Criticism is emerging even within the People Power Party that certain politicians repeatedly bringing up May 18—despite a judicial ruling having already been made—aims to pursue personal political gain by pandering to hardline supporters.
(Video by Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Nam Il)
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