Ahn Cheol-soo Warns Against "Fake News" After Criticism That His Women's Policy "Erased Democratic Party's Achievements"

Comparison of People's Party Pledges and Ruling Party Bills

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, criticized the claim that the women’s safety pledge announced by the People’s Party on the 24th “erased the existing achievements of female lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea,” saying, “Saying that others should not touch it because we touched it first is not the mindset of someone who truly wants to solve the problem.”

On the same day, through a YouTube broadcast, Ahn said, “Almost all parties are dealing with similar issues in their women’s pledges. This is probably because even the most basic issue of safety has not been resolved,” adding, “Politicians need to pay more attention and make efforts. I am one of them.”

Ahn emphasized, “We arranged a time to compare the People’s Party’s pledges with five proposals submitted by female lawmakers from other parties,” and “Many of our pledges cover areas that were not previously addressed or attempt new approaches.”

Regarding the criticism that the content overlaps with Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Chun-sook’s 'Basic Act on the Prevention of Violence Against Women,' he explained, “As the name of the bill suggests, this is literally a basic act,” and “Because it is a basic act, it does not include punishment provisions for each crime. We have proposed prevention measures and punishment laws for each crime as pledges.”

In response to criticism that Democratic Party lawmaker Nam In-soon’s 'Special Act on the Punishment of Stalking' and the People’s Party’s 'Stalker Prevention Act' are similar, he stated, “The People’s Party focused on the stalker rather than the stalking act,” and “If a stalker stalked ten women once each, it cannot be punished under the Stalking Prevention Act, but under the Stalker Prevention Act, they can be punished as a habitual stalker and prevent more serious crimes in advance.”

Comparing with Nam’s 'Special Act on the Punishment of Domestic Violence Crimes,' he said, “The biggest difference is that the scope of domestic violence victims has been expanded to include dating violence victims,” and “Additionally, it includes immediate separation of perpetrators and victims, expedited processing of temporary restraining orders, exclusion from crimes requiring victim’s complaint, abolition of conditional suspension of prosecution based on counseling, and strengthening punishment standards to the level of advanced countries.”

Regarding Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Eun-hye’s proposed 'Partial Amendment to the Child Welfare Act,' he said, “The bill proposed by Rep. Jeong is aimed at violence incidents among children in daycare centers,” and “The People’s Party pledge is about including gender equality and human rights integrated education in the regular curriculum.”

In response to criticism that it overlaps with the Democratic Party’s push for 'strict punishment of sex crimes,' he said, “The People’s Party pledge of ‘explicit consent’ is a step beyond non-consent, a law that more clearly guarantees women’s sexual self-determination rights,” and “It is a law that more clearly guarantees women’s sexual self-determination rights.”

Ahn said, “The claim that the People’s Party’s bill on the same issue erases the achievements of those who first raised the issue and engaged in legislative activities is deceiving the public,” adding, “When making pledges, we review all existing legislative activities and base our proposals on them. Politicians’ duty is to continuously build new achievements on existing ones to produce better laws and better measures, ultimately creating a better society.”

Ahn stated, “In conclusion, this post, which spread rapidly and systematically on communities and SNS, mixes some facts with falsehoods. Because mixing facts and falsehoods moderately can cause more confusion among the public than completely false information,” and “Many citizens are exposed to and deceived by such fake news. They are being exploited and mocked by fraudsters.”

Ahn said, “Politicians who try to deceive the public with lies and fake news do not respect the people. You must not be deceived by such people and judge them so that they learn to fear the people,” and “I warn those who spread fake news. They will definitely pay the price.”

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