Democratic Party submits resolution calling for expulsion of PPP lawmaker over May 18 forum

The Democratic Party of Korea on Friday submitted a resolution to the National Assembly calling for the expulsion of People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-suk, who hosted a forum with right-wing civic groups on the May 18 pro-democracy movement.

Floor spokesperson Lee Ju-hee and Deputy Floor Leader Park Gyun-taek, who represents the Gwangsan-gu Gap constituency in Gwangju, filed the resolution — formally titled "Resolution Calling for the Expulsion of National Assembly Member Lee Jin-suk for Distorting and Denigrating the May 18 Democratic Uprising" — at the Assembly's bill-processing office, with the names of all Democratic Party lawmakers attached.

Speaking to reporters, floor spokesperson Lee said Lee Jin-suk had committed "an act that will go down as a day of shame in the history of the Republic of Korea's National Assembly." She added: "Gathering people who denigrate the spirit of May 18 and brazenly denying even historically established facts — I am ashamed to call her a colleague, and she is unfit to serve as a National Assembly member."

Deputy Floor Leader Park said Lee had "raised widespread public concern and suspicion about her fitness to serve even before entering the Assembly," adding that "it has now been confirmed, in less than two months since she took office, that she is indeed unqualified." Park said the fact that Lee pressed ahead with the forum despite opposition from within the PPP showed she was "a substandard politician incapable of reform through any normal or rational means."

Park also called for the Assembly's ethics committee — which has yet to be formed — to be constituted promptly in light of the incident and for the matter to be brought to a plenary vote. Floor spokesperson Lee echoed the call, saying the party had been "continuously requesting the Assembly Speaker to form the ethics committee" and expressing confidence that "a considerable degree of consensus already exists within the Assembly," noting that opposition parties had recommended postponing or canceling the event and that the Assembly Speaker had taken the same position. Expelling a National Assembly member requires approval by two-thirds of all sitting members at a plenary session, following a review by the ethics committee.

Lee Jin-suk hosted a public forum titled "Reexamining the May 18 Democratic Movement" at the National Assembly Library's main auditorium on Thursday, alongside Saeyeoksa Gungmin Undong, a civic group led by figures from the New Right movement. In her welcoming remarks, Lee said that "46 years have passed since May 18, yet it is still difficult to speak openly about its meaning," and questioned whether "it is desirable in a free Republic of Korea for May 18 to become a sacred, untouchable subject."

The Democratic Party, which held a "Rally to Condemn the PPP for Distorting May 18 History" on Thursday, continued its criticism Friday. Han Byung-do, the party's acting leader and floor leader, said at a supreme council meeting that "the PPP must not dismiss this as a personal lapse by Rep. Lee, and must make its position on the distortion of May 18 history absolutely clear."

Supreme council member Hwang Myeong-seon said at the meeting that "nominating figures like Lee Jin-suk and tolerating a runaway denial of history is proof that the PPP is itself an anti-constitutional, anti-democratic group that rejects the May 18 pro-democracy movement." Hwang called on the PPP to "apologize for its lawmaker's anti-democratic misconduct and demand her immediate resignation."

Supreme council member Park Gyu-hwan said Lee's conduct had "crossed the line," adding that "the National Assembly — a place where the insurrection was overcome and the will of the people is enshrined — has been defiled by anti-historical, anti-democratic outbursts that denigrate and insult May 18." Park also urged the Assembly Speaker to "immediately dismiss the director of the National Assembly Library for allowing such an outrageous event to take place."