5.18 Group: "Hwang Kyo-ahn's 'What Incident' Remark Is an Election Ploy... He Must Apologize to the People"

Hwang Kyo-ahn, the leader of the Liberty Korea Party who declared his candidacy for Jongno, Seoul in the 21st general election, is eating fish cake at a snack bar near Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul on the afternoon of the 9th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] On the 11th, the May 18 organizations criticized Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party, for referring to the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement of 1980 as a "certain incident," stating that he should "resign from all public offices and candidacies for the National Assembly and apologize profusely."

On this day, the May 18 Democratic Merit Association, the May 18 Democratization Movement Injured Association, the May 18 Detained Injured Association, and the May 18 Memorial Foundation issued a statement saying, "At a time approaching the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement, Leader Hwang Kyo-ahn's remark calling it the '1980 incident' is clearly a step to rally conservative forces again."

These organizations stated, "Given that this outrageous remark came from someone who served as Minister of Justice and Prime Minister, it blatantly reveals the historical awareness and character level of the Liberty Korea Party and Leader Hwang," and added, "The intention behind Leader Hwang's first move after declaring his candidacy for the National Assembly, making a reckless remark targeting May 18, is to provoke conservative forces and exploit it for his election amid unfavorable election conditions."

They continued, "The people will never be deceived by Leader Hwang's trick of even exploiting historical distortion," and pointed out, "Leader Hwang's use of the term 'incident' is not merely a political statement or a reckless distortion of history, but an act that denies the rule of law in this country. Leader Hwang has effectively lost his qualifications as the head of a political party and as a candidate for the National Assembly."

Earlier, on the 9th, Leader Hwang, while eating tteokbokki and fish cake in front of his alma mater, Sungkyunkwan University in Jongno-gu, Seoul, told reporters, "I attended school here, and I remember that in 1980, there was some kind of incident that caused the school to close temporarily."

His remarks were interpreted as referring to the nationwide university closures under martial law during the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980, which sparked controversy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.