May 18 Distortion: Rep. Jang Dong-hyuk Stays Silent on Demands for Stance

[Anchor]

Organizations related to the May 18 Democratization Movement visited the headquarters of the People Power Party in protest. When asked whether the forum hosted by Representative Lee Jin-sook amounted to a distortion of the May 18 movement and if it represented the party's official stance, Party Leader Jang Dong-hyuk has maintained his silence.

Reporter Park Chan-beom has the details.

[Reporter]

In front of the People Power Party headquarters yesterday afternoon.

Representatives from May 18-related organizations, including the May 18 Memorial Foundation, gathered holding placards reading "Expel Lee Jin-sook."

Demanding that People Power Party Leader Jang Dong-hyuk no longer remain silent on the distortion of the spirit of the democratization movement, they delivered a questionnaire to the party asking whether the disparagement of May 18 is the official stance of the People Power Party.

[Shin Kuk-jung / Chairman of the May 18 Democratization Movement Injured Persons Association: An event that has been historically, judicially, and nationally agreed upon and finalized is being disparaged under the pretext of an academic conference...]

This comes after anti-historical remarks poured out during a National Assembly forum on May 18 hosted by Representative Lee Jin-sook on the 13th.

[Lee Young-hoon / Co-Chairman of the New History National Movement (on the 13th): It is the ten-day disturbance that took place in Gwangju in May 1980.]

However, Representative Lee Jin-sook claims that these were "the personal views of the forum presenters."

Regarding the Democratic Party and others demanding an apology, she even posted a video on social media titled "Group Lynching," portraying herself as the victim.

[Lee Jin-sook / People Power Party Representative (on the 19th, National Assembly Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee): The Democratic Party, which is practically committing group violence and verbal violence against me, is responsible (for the committee's disruption)...]

Nevertheless, internal criticism persists within the People Power Party, with some suggesting that Representative Lee is acting this way to build a hardline inner-party support base into her own fandom.

A lawmaker representing a district in the Yeongnam region clicked their tongue in an interview with SBS, saying, "Representative Lee is handing the Democratic Party far too good of a weapon."

The Democratic Party, which has been demanding that the People Power Party expel Representative Lee, submitted its own disciplinary motion to the National Assembly yesterday.

[Ahn Do-geul / Democratic Party Representative (Chairman of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Unified Special City Party Committee): We intend to clearly convey that this matter can never be forgiven.]

The leadership of the People Power Party has distanced itself, stating that disciplinary action against Representative Lee has not been reviewed.

Critics point out that Leader Jang is maintaining his "silence" out of concern that he might alienate his hardline support base, which serves as his power foundation, rather than heeding critical public opinion both inside and outside the party.

The People Power Party's platform and policy booklet enacted in 2020, "Promise for Everyone's Tomorrow," clearly states: "We do not reject the past based on factional logic," and "We carry on the spirit of democratization movements in modern history, such as the March 15 Uprising, the April 19 Revolution, and the May 18 Democratization Movement."

(Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Lee Seung-hee | Design by Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.