Democratic Party Submits Expulsion Motion for Jinsook Lee over May 18 Disparagement Controversy

"Too Ashamed to Even Call Her a Fellow Lawmaker"

Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Kyuntak Park (left) and Joohee Lee, the party floor spokesperson, submitted the "Resolution to Expel Lawmaker Jin-sook Lee" to the National Assembly's Legislative Affairs Office on the 14th. Joint coverage by Yonhap News Agency

The Democratic Party of Korea submitted a motion for the expulsion of Jinsook Lee, a People Power Party lawmaker embroiled in controversy for disparaging the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, to the National Assembly Secretariat on the 14th.

On the same day, Juhee Lee, a Democratic Party lawmaker, told reporters shortly after submitting the motion, "Yesterday (the 13th), Jinsook Lee committed an act that will go down as a day of disgrace in the history of the South Korean National Assembly. She gathered individuals who demean the spirit of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement and went so far as to openly deny facts that are already historically established. It is shameful to even refer to her as a fellow lawmaker."

Kyuntaek Park, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "Even before entering the National Assembly, Jinsook Lee had already raised public doubts about her qualifications as a lawmaker. Now, less than two months after obtaining her status as a legislator, she has revealed herself to be unqualified."

He added, "Even within the People Power Party, there was opposition to holding the forum, yet Jinsook Lee pushed ahead with it. This shows she is an inadequate politician who cannot be reformed through any normal or rational means. We have no choice but to call for expulsion procedures without further process."

The day before, at a public forum held at the National Assembly to "reexamine" the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, Younghoon Lee, co-chairman of the New History National Movement, described the movement as "ten days of unrest that occurred in Gwangju in May 1980."

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