PPP's Yoon Sang-hyun asks 'Is this democracy?' as debate over May 18 remarks intensifies

People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun weighed in Monday on the controversy surrounding remarks by Lee Byung-tae, vice chairman of the presidential Committee on Regulatory Reform, about the May 18 pro-democracy uprising, asking: "Is this democracy — a country that silences people simply for expressing a different opinion?"

Writing on his Facebook page Monday, Yoon said he could not hide his deep concern at seeing Cheong Wa Dae issue a stern warning and politicians pile on to demand Lee's resignation over what he described as a personal expression of opinion.

"If we try to silence public officials or citizens because their views differ from those in power or from mainstream thinking, our society will ultimately regress into a totalitarian state that permits only a single voice," Yoon said. "The moment a particular historical event or value is pushed outside the realm of debate and declared sacred, the free marketplace of ideas collapses."

He then turned to an amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection set to take effect Tuesday. "The government and the ruling party call it a response to disinformation, but in reality it is nothing other than a law to control the public's speech by the standards of those in power," he said. "A fear of online censorship — the sense that even a single comment or a 'like' on social media could be judged by the yardstick of power — is spreading across South Korea."

"When power appoints itself the arbiter of truth, democracy loses its footing," Yoon said. "Is it truly fitting for a democratic system built through our blood and sweat to suppress differences of opinion by force and pressure people into resigning?"

He called on the government and the ruling party to immediately stop what he described as a pattern of using power to suppress freedom of expression. "Embracing uncomfortable voices and filtering them through vigorous debate is what democratic maturity looks like," he said. "A government that fears criticism and debate has no future."

Yoon added that a truly healthy democracy is one that can accommodate and engage with all views — whether uncomfortable truths or contentious arguments. "Using power to suppress differences of opinion is never compatible with democracy," he said.