May 18 Injured Association Files Complaint Against People Power Party’s Park Sooyoung and Others for "Spreading False Information"

Three Accused, Including Poet Jung Jaehak and a Blogger

Charged with Spreading Claims of "Fake Merit Recipients"

The May 18 Democratization Movement Injured Association, a statutory corporation, has filed a police complaint against three individuals, including Assemblyman Park Sooyoung of the People Power Party, on charges of distorting the history of May and spreading false information and fake news online.

According to the association on May 27, the group filed a complaint the previous day with the Gwangju Seobu Police Station against three people, including Assemblyman Park Sooyoung of the People Power Party, poet Jung Jaehak, and blogger A, on charges including violation of the Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement (spreading false information).

The Construction Method Association 5·18 Democratic Movement Victims Association filed a complaint with the Gwangju Seobu Police Station against three individuals, including Representative Soo-Young Park, poet Jae-Hak Jung, and blogger A, on charges of violating the Special Act on the 5·18 Democratic Movement Victims Association and others (spreading false information). The photo shows carnations placed at the National 5·18 Democratic Cemetery in Unjeong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, on the 15th. Photo by Yonhap News.

On May 22, poet Jung published a column titled "Let’s Save Chung Yongjin" in an online media outlet, in response to the recent marketing controversy involving Starbucks Korea. In the article, Jung is accused of directly denying and distorting historical facts by posting statements such as, "Were tanks ever deployed during the May 18 Democratization Movement?" and "May 18 is now at risk of losing even its legitimacy due to the issue of fake merit recipients."

Assemblyman Park Sooyoung, a current ruling party lawmaker, is accused of sharing Jung's distorted post on his personal Facebook account, thereby exposing it to a wider audience. Blogger A is also accused of further amplifying and distributing false information by reposting the column on their blog.

The Injured Association and other May-related organizations argued that the posts published and shared by these individuals undermine the noble values of the May 18 Democratization Movement and seriously distort and fabricate facts. They called for a thorough investigation and strict punishment by the judicial authorities.

A police official stated, "Since the complaint has been received, we will carefully examine the legality of the posts in question as well as conduct an investigation of the complainant," adding, "We will rigorously proceed with the investigation, including summoning those accused in accordance with legal procedures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.