Democratic Party Visits Gwangju: "We Highly Appreciate Both Parties' Visits... Candidates Making Disparaging Remarks Should Resign"

Party Leadership Demands Withdrawal of Some Candidates in Local Elections

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea positively evaluated the gathering of ruling and opposition lawmakers in Gwangju, where the May 18 Democratic Uprising memorial ceremony was held. However, they emphasized the need for the resignation of People Power Party local election candidates who made disparaging remarks about May 18 and Gwangju.

Park Ji-hyun, co-chair of the Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee, attended the 42nd anniversary May 18 Democratic Uprising memorial ceremony held at the National May 18 Democratic Cemetery in Buk-gu, Gwangju on the 18th. After the event, she told reporters, "I highly appreciate the fact that President Yoon Suk-yeol and many lawmakers from the People Power Party attended," adding, "It must have been to show the goal of continuing the spirit of May."

She then called for the resignation of Kim Jin-tae, the People Power Party candidate for Gangwon Province governor, as a measure to put this into practice. She explained, "The resignation of candidate Kim, who distorted the spirit of May 18, should be the first step." Kim had previously caused controversy for making offensive remarks related to May 18, such as saying, "May 18 is an issue that the right-wing must never back down from."

Park also said, "There are parts where the truth about May 18 has not been properly investigated," and expressed hope that "the Yoon Suk-yeol administration will thoroughly pursue the truth investigation."

Yoon Ho-jung, chair of the Emergency Response Committee, also told reporters on the same day, "I think it is meaningful that the ruling and opposition parties attended the memorial ceremony together today to inherit the spirit of May 18."

However, he added, "There are still people who disparage and make hateful remarks about May 18 Gwangju running in local elections," and said, "I think these people should reflect first and resign as candidates."

He also said, "When the ruling and opposition parties discuss constitutional amendments in the future, I hope the phrase about inheriting the spirit of May 18 Gwangju will be added to the preamble of the constitution. Unfortunately, I understand that the Speaker considered mentioning this part in today's commemorative speech, but it was not included, which is very regrettable."

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