Kim Eui-gyeom: "Yoon Seok-yeol's 'Jeon Du-hwan Death Penalty Demand' Fake Boast, Please Correct It"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 18th, Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Open Democratic Party, demanded that former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who visited Gwangju the day before, "correct the false heroic tale of requesting the death penalty for Jeon Du-hwan."

Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Open Democratic Party, is holding a press conference on the 13th at the National Assembly Communication Center regarding allegations of plagiarism in the thesis and theft of the business plan by Kim Gun-hee, wife of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

On that day, Rep. Kim criticized former Prosecutor General Yoon for two consecutive days on Facebook, saying, "Yoon's claim of requesting the death penalty for Jeon Du-hwan is close to 'fake news.'"

It is known that Yoon, while attending Seoul National University’s College of Law in May 1980, played the role of a prosecutor in a mock trial related to the Gwangju Democratization Movement and requested the death penalty for President Jeon Du-hwan, and that he fled to Gangwon Province for a while because of this incident.

However, on the previous day, Rep. Kim pointed out that the part written in the anecdote published in "Gusuhan Yoon Seok-yeol," authored by Yoon’s law school classmates, stating "Yoon requested the death penalty for Jeon in a mock criminal trial held by the Seoul Law School Criminal Law Society immediately after the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement bloodshed," was not true.

Rep. Kim said, "Upon investigating the truth, it was not immediately after May 18 but before May 18," adding, "According to the university newspaper issued on May 12, 1980, at Seoul National University, students from the Business School, Law School, and Music School held an overnight debate on May 8. The mock trial Yoon mentioned was part of that event." He continued, "May 8 was during the 'Seoul Spring' period, and Seoul National University was a 'liberated zone.' It was a time when anyone with a mouth could say whatever they wanted." He added, "I don’t understand why people are making a big deal out of the fact that they sentenced Jeon Du-hwan to life imprisonment (not even the death penalty) during a sit-in at that time and boasting about it everywhere."

Rep. Kim also criticized, "Yoon himself said in a media interview, 'On May 17, a distant relative working at the Security Command called home and told me to get Seok-yeol to flee quickly. So, he hid at a relative’s house on his maternal side for three months and then returned to school after receiving news that it was safe to come back.'" He added, "He was not wanted by the authorities. He got scared and ran away without doing much. This is truly a 'parental privilege' (parental influence)."

On that day, Rep. Kim quoted former Prosecutor General Yoon’s statement during his visit to Gwangju the day before, where he was told by the victims’ families to "apply as a democratization movement merit recipient," and said, "Even the victims in Gwangju mistakenly regard him as a 'friend of Gwangju,'" urging, "He should actively clarify the false heroic tales before they become more firmly established."

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