Vow to 'Block Legislation' as Rep. Lee Jin-sook Proposes Bill to Disclose May 18 Merit Recipients

[Anchor]

People Power Party Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook has sparked controversy again by introducing a bill to disclose the list of May 18 Democratization Movement merit recipients and their bereaved families. Given the parliamentary landscape, the bill is unlikely to pass, but the move appears aimed at hardline supporters.

Jeong Yunsik reports.

[Reporter]

People Power Party Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook previously hosted a National Assembly forum where the May 18 Democratization Movement was called a "disturbance" and remarks denying Chun Doo-hwan's responsibility were made.

[Joo Dong-sik / Former People Power Party Gwangju Seo-gu Gap District Committee Chair (August 13): "(Whenever Chun Doo-hwan is brought up) they unconditionally make him out to be a slaughterer, perpetrator, and villain."]

About a month later, at a rally held at the National Assembly, she made this claim:

[Lee Jin-sook / People Power Party Lawmaker (September 10): "It is completely opaque how merit recipients are selected, and we do not know whether it costs 10 billion, 20 billion, or 100 billion won a year, or how much goes into it."]

Questioning the transparency of the selection process for May 18 Democratization Movement merit recipients, she sponsored three related bills. The measures propose disclosing the list of May 18 democratic merit recipients and their bereaved or family members every year, and adding the phrase "Gwangju-related areas" to the definition of the May 18 Democratization Movement.

Related organizations, including the May 18 Memorial Foundation, demanded an immediate withdrawal, arguing that the bills downplay the historical significance of May 18 and could expose those involved to secondary harm.

The Democratic Party also declared it would "block the legislation," calling it "despicable politics with blatantly impure intentions."

[Han Byung-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader: "Disclosing the list is an outright violation of the Personal Information Protection Act and an act of secondary harm. It merely complies with the demands of far-right forces seeking to stigmatize May 18 victims and turn them into targets for attacks."]

Earlier, in lawsuits demanding the disclosure of the May 18 merit recipients list, the court ruled that withholding the names was lawful, stating that "there is a very high risk of privacy infringement, and lists of other national merit recipients are also not disclosed." The ruling was finalized back in 2020.

Even within the People Power Party, criticism is emerging that some politicians repeatedly dredging up May 18 despite established judicial decisions are doing so to pursue personal political interests by pandering to hardline supporters.

(Video by Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Nam Il)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.