The Democratic Party called for the expulsion of People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-suk, stating she "has no qualification to serve as a lawmaker," regarding her hosting of a forum on the May 18 Democratization Movement alongside a right-wing group.

Acting Leader and Floor Leader Han Byung-do made the remarks during a condemnation rally held at the National Assembly ahead of a general meeting of lawmakers today (the 13th), stating, "We will never tolerate such shallow and base attempts to reduce the National Assembly into a venue for disparaging the May 18 Democratization Movement."

The Acting Leader emphasized, "Not only the New History National Movement, the co-hosting organization, but also individuals attending the event such as Lee Young-hoon, Kim Yong-sam, and Joo Dong-shik are the very figures who have fundamentally disparaged May 18 under the grand guise of academic research. Regardless of whether one is progressive or conservative, anyone with a shred of humanity must not disparage and play games with May 18."

He raised his voice, adding, "Lawmaker Lee should cancel the event even now and prostrate herself in profound apology before the public. If the event is pushed through, Lawmaker Lee lacks the qualification to be a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, and the Democratic Party will immediately submit a resolution calling for her expulsion from parliament."

Lawmaker Park Gyun-taek, whose constituency is in Gwangju, also argued, "Lawmaker Lee is a person who cannot be rationally reformed. If the leadership of the People Power Party is sincere about its past promise to enshrine the spirit of May 18 in the preamble of the Constitution, they must expel her from the party immediately."

He also asked National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sic to "swiftly form the Special Committee on Ethics to enable disciplinary action at the parliamentary level against Lawmaker Lee," requesting that "the Ethics Committee be promptly constituted in accordance with the ratio of ruling and opposition seats to take measures so that disciplinary action and self-correction functions meeting public expectations can be achieved."

Criticism was also directed at National Assembly Librarian Hwang Jung-keun, who has a background linked to the People Power Party.

Acting Leader Han stated, "As the chairperson of the House Steering Committee, we will definitely hold Librarian Hwang accountable to verify whether he condoned the hosting of this event that undermines the spirit of May 18." Lawmaker Park said, "Immediately dismiss Librarian Hwang, who handed over the National Assembly Library, a precious asset of the parliament, as a stage for historical distortion."

Floor Spokesperson Lee Ju-hee also criticized in a written briefing issued that day, "A person who is supposed to be a representative of the people is using the act of driving deep nails into the hearts of Gwangju citizens as political capital," adding, "Lawmaker Lee and the People Power Party must kneel and apologize to the citizens of Gwangju and the public for their shameful behavior of distorting history."

Meanwhile, the Rebuilding Korea Party is also considering referring Lawmaker Lee to the National Assembly's Special Committee on Ethics.

Previously, Rebuilding Korea Party Leader Shin Jang-shik stated during the Supreme Council meeting that day, "Lawmakers must not engage in anti-democratic and anti-constitutional words and deeds," adding, "The only way to confirm this at the parliamentary level is through disciplinary action by the National Assembly's Special Committee on Ethics."

(Photo: Yonhap News)