[Comprehensive] "Desperate Betrayer" Moon Jung-bok Criticizes Tae Yong-ho's 'Lee In-young Ideological Verification'

On the morning of the 23rd, at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee confirmation hearing in Yeouido, Seoul, Tae Young-ho, a member of the United Future Party, is questioning Lee In-young, the nominee for Minister of Unification.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] On the 23rd, at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee’s confirmation hearing for the Minister of Unification nominee, Tae Yong-ho, a member of the Future United Party and former North Korean embassy official in the UK, sparked controversy by conducting an ideological screening against Lee In-young, the nominee from the Democratic Party of Korea. In response, Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jung-bok criticized it as "the desperate act of a traitor."

On the same day, Moon posted on his Facebook, condemning the act and stating, "Lawmaker Tae lacks awareness of South Korea’s democratization process; it is not something someone who was treated well in the North and then defected should say," reiterating his criticism.

The day before, Tae had stirred controversy by conducting an ideological screening of the nominee. As the first questioner among the United Party’s hearing members, Tae asked, "Have you ever been called a 'ppalgaengi' (red)?”

In response, Lee said, "There were murmurs like that among people, and there was also a time when the regime publicly labeled me as a pro-communist force."

Then, Tae referred to Lee’s background as the first chairman of the National Council of Student Representatives (Jeondaehyeop) in the late 1980s, leading student movements, and asked, "In the 1980s, North Korea taught that Jeondaehyeop members pledged loyalty every morning in front of Kim Il-sung’s portrait to liberate South Korea from American imperialist colonial rule. Did such a thing happen?"

Lee responded, "As the chairman of Jeondaehyeop, I have no memory of pledging loyalty every morning in front of Kim Il-sung’s photo or worshipping Juche ideology. I think that is an exaggerated story," dismissing the claim.

Then Tae asked, "In the late 1990s, Kim Jong-il sent spies to South Korea to attempt a communist unification by restoring underground party organizations. Have you read the book 'No One Reported Me,' written by one of those spies? On page 339, does the content about you match?"

Tae again questioned, "Have you ever publicly declared when and where you 'abandoned Juche ideology and are not a believer'?" aiming to verify Lee’s ideology. Tae also presented a photo from his own press conference in South Korea after defecting, where he shouted "Long live the Republic of Korea."

Lee In-young, the nominee for Minister of Unification, is answering questions at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee hearing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 23rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

In response, Lee said, "So-called 'conversion' applies to people like Mr. Tae who came from the North to the South. Asking me about ideological conversion is an inappropriate question, even if asked as a hearing member."

He continued, "I don’t know if ideological conversion is explicitly forced in the North, but in the South, there is freedom of thought and conscience," and added, "Asking about conversion shows a lack of understanding of the South."

When the so-called ideological screening controversy arose from Tae’s questioning, Kim Young-ho, the ruling party’s secretary of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, expressed regret through a procedural statement, saying, "Asking the Minister of Unification nominee, a four-term National Assembly member, whether he has 'abandoned Juche ideology and converted' is an act that insults the National Assembly."

In response, Kim Seok-ki, the opposition party’s secretary from the United Party, said, "I think it is natural to ask whether the nominee was involved in Kim Il-sung’s ideology and Jeondaehyeop in the past and whether he still believes in Juche ideology," targeting Kim Young-ho, and raised his voice, saying, "It is impolite to criticize a fellow lawmaker’s remarks as inappropriate."

Meanwhile, after controversy arose from Moon’s post, he deleted the Facebook post, and former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon sarcastically commented, "The General will be greatly disappointed."

On the same day, Jin wrote on his Facebook, "Moon Jung-bok, why is this person acting like this? It would be problematic if he still hasn’t 'betrayed' and is serving as a National Assembly member in South Korea." He added, "Tae Yong-ho tried to catch Lee In-young but ended up catching the wrong person."

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