Outcries and Violence Erupt at Assembly Seminar Hosted by People Power Party Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook

[Anchor]

Today, People Power Party Representative Lee Jin-sook hosted a seminar at the National Assembly concerning the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. However, the event was filled with anti-historical assertions and disparaging remarks about the movement that starkly diverged from common public sense. The audience seating descended into chaos with shouting and physical altercations.

Reporter Son Hyeong-an has the details.

[Reporter]

This afternoon at the National Assembly Library.

It was a seminar on the May 18 Democratization Movement co-hosted by People Power Party Representative Lee Jin-sook and an organization called the New History National Movement.

[Lee Jin-sook / People Power Party Representative: May 18 must not become the property of a specific political faction.]

The co-representative of the organization disparaged "March for the Beloved," a song symbolizing the spirit of the May 18 Democratization Movement, calling it a "retired relic of history," and went on to refer to May 18 as a disturbance.

[Lee Young-hoon / Co-representative, New History National Movement: It was a ten-day disturbance that took place in Gwangju. What were they protesting against, and what were they trying to overthrow...]br>
Remarks denying former President Chun Doo-hwan's responsibility for May 18 followed continuously.

[Lee Young-hoon / Co-representative, New History National Movement: It was President Chun Doo-hwan's nation-building and smooth transition to democratic politics.]

[Ju Dong-sik / Former People Power Party Gwangju Seo-gap District Party Committee Chair: I believe the intentions of the Ju-sapa (NL faction) were also involved. Whenever Chun Doo-hwan is brought up, they unconditionally call him a mass murderer, a mass murderer. They've made him entirely out to be the perpetrator and the bad guy.]

The seminar handout even contained anti-historical claims, referring to May 18 as the "Gwangju Incident" and stating that "responsibility was entirely shifted to Chun Doo-hwan, who had no connection whatsoever to the military chain of command at the time in 1980," and that "Chun Doo-hwan was defamed as someone who massacred the righteous people who rose up in Gwangju."

The seminar turned into chaos as attendees exchanged shouts and punches, and even splashed water at one another.

[Seminar Attendee: May 18 was a riot and a rebellion!]

Representative Lee even made remarks that seemed to further incite the commotion in the room.

[Lee Jin-sook / People Power Party Representative: The goal of certain factions is to have events disrupted and halted by disturbances like this.]

Regarding the seminar, which was rife with claims far removed from public common sense, the Democratic Party of Korea criticized that the National Assembly was turned into a venue for disparaging the May 18 Democratization Movement, and urged the People Power Party to expel Representative Lee.

The People Power Party drew a line, stating, "We requested Representative Lee to cancel the event, but the request was refused," emphasizing that the party was not involved and that it was a personal-level event.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Video reporting: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Lee Seung-hee | Design: Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.