Democratic Party files police complaint against PPP's Lee Jin-suk over May 18 forum; Lee counters with defamation complaint

The Democratic Party of Korea's legal committee filed a police complaint Tuesday against People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-suk, who sparked controversy by hosting a forum at the National Assembly alongside right-wing groups that revisited the May 18 democratization movement. Lee, in turn, filed a separate complaint against Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ji-won, accusing him of defaming her through social media posts.

The Democratic Party's legal committee held a press conference at the National Assembly alongside lawmakers from constituencies in South Jeolla Province and Gwangju, announcing it had filed a complaint with police accusing Lee of violating the May 18 Democratization Movement Act.

At the press conference, the group said Lee "pressed ahead with the event to the end, contaminating the National Assembly — a sacred hall of the people's will — into a propaganda platform for malicious forces that distort history with falsehoods and wholly deny democratic values."

They also said that "treating false claims that contradict final court rulings as truth and exploiting them politically can never fall within the exception for academic activities protected under the special act on the May 18 democratization movement," adding that "the series of acts led or participated in by lawmaker Lee do not constitute National Assembly proceedings or official legislative duties guaranteed by the Constitution" and that "Lee cannot hide behind constitutional immunity."

Lee, meanwhile, filed a complaint the same day against Park at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul, alleging defamation in violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

Lee said Park posted entries on his blog and Facebook on Sunday referring to her as "someone who says the May 18 uprising was the work of North Korean troops." She denied ever claiming or agreeing that North Korean forces were behind the May 18 Gwangju democratization movement and vowed to "hold him legally accountable."