PPP's Cho Kyung-tae visits late President Roh's grave to 'apologize on behalf' of party, days after colleague's 'Owl Rock' remark

People Power Party lawmaker Cho Kyung-tae visited the grave of late former President Roh Moo-hyun in Bongha Village, Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, on Friday — three days after a fellow PPP lawmaker sparked controversy with a remark about "Owl Rock" during a parliamentary audit session.

Cho issued a press release saying he visited "with a shameful and apologetic heart before the president, to apologize on behalf of the realities of South Korean politics."

He had announced the visit on Facebook on Thursday, writing that he felt "a heavy sense of responsibility as a politician" after seeing the late president's place of death mentioned during a recent national audit hearing. "Policy can be evaluated, but a person's death must never be made a subject of political strife," he said.

The controversy began Tuesday during the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit of the Supreme Court, when PPP floor spokesperson Kim Tae-gyu interjected as Progressive Party lawmaker Son Sol was questioning Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae, asking whether he "dreamed of becoming a second Yoon Suk Yeol." Kim said, "Let's just make up one truth about our Owl Rock." Owl Rock is a boulder on the hill behind Bongha Village where Roh died on May 23, 2009.

Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Park Eun-jeong protested, saying "Be a human being," and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min chimed in with "You've never been one." Kim Tae-gyu shot back at Kim Yong-min: "Did Owl Rock scratch you?" He also said, "You want to watch a depraved film ('The Assassin') but get scratched by Owl Rock?" The remarks were seen as a reference to the ongoing partisan dispute over "The Assassin," a film about the shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo.

The Democratic Party announced it would file a complaint against Kim with the National Assembly's Special Ethics Committee and pursue his expulsion. PPP members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee argued that Kim's remarks came in response to insulting comments by opposition lawmakers, and called on committee chair Seo to apologize for what they described as biased proceedings.

Son held a press conference Friday demanding that Kim apologize, saying he had "refused the committee chair's request to express regret and is only blaming other lawmakers and the chair."

Meanwhile, the PPP distanced itself from Cho's visit. Chief Spokesperson Park Chung-kwon said Friday that "the party does not issue a position on every individual lawmaker's activity," adding that "Cho is a lawmaker who received a heavy disciplinary sanction from the party's ethics committee — his party membership rights are currently suspended."

Cho, a six-term lawmaker, first entered the National Assembly under the Uri Party — the predecessor of the Democratic Party — during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, before later switching his affiliation to the PPP. In August, the PPP ethics committee handed him a two-and-a-half-year suspension of party membership rights over allegations that he campaigned against PPP candidate Park Deok-heum during an internal primary for the National Assembly's vice speaker seat reserved for the opposition, making him ineligible to run for the PPP in the 2028 general election.