The Democratic Party submitted a disciplinary motion on August 21 against Lee Jin-sook, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, over her controversial remarks regarding the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. The party criticized her comments as an insult to the citizens of Gwangju.
Lee Joo-hee, the party's floor spokesperson, stated in the National Assembly that "today we submitted a binding disciplinary motion following last week's resolution calling for her expulsion." Ahn Do-geol, chair of the Gwangju chapter of the People Power Party, was also present at the announcement.
Lee added, "The behavior exhibited by this lawmaker within the National Assembly is something that should never occur in a constitutional institution and a party representing the people's will." She emphasized that this matter cannot be overlooked and must be addressed with disciplinary action.
Ahn also expressed that he views this as a serious provocation against the spirit of the Constitution and the May 18 movement, stating, "This is a secondary harm to the victims and their families of the May 18 incident. It is an act that insults the 3.2 million citizens of Gwangju, and it cannot be forgiven."
Previously, on August 13, Lee hosted a public forum in the National Assembly titled "Revisiting the May 18 Democratization Movement," which sparked the controversy.
In response, Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok stated on X (formerly Twitter) that he would ensure Lee's expulsion and called for cooperation from National Assembly Speaker Chung Jin-suk regarding the disciplinary process. He also expressed hope that the People Power Party would begin addressing this issue and move towards genuinely aligning with the people by including the May 18 movement in the constitutional preamble.
Additionally, some responsible members of the People Power Party have called for disciplinary action against Lee. Kim expressed his gratitude to them for their stance.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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