The Democratic Party criticizes the release of the Itaewon list as aimed at shielding Lee Jae-myung

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is attending the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The People Power Party criticized the pro-Democratic Party media on the 14th for disclosing the list of victims of the Itaewon accident without the consent of the bereaved families, calling it a 'shielding' purpose to defend Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, from judicial risks.

On the 15th, Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the floor strategy meeting, "Despite knowing that many bereaved families do not want the list to be disclosed and that it violates the law, the media committed an unfilial act," and directly accused, "The primary purpose of their unfilial act is to protect Lee Jae-myung, who is under various criminal suspicions."

He criticized, "They do not empathize with the pain of the bereaved at all and are obsessed only with achieving twisted political goals," adding, "They faithfully carried out the demand of Lee Yeon-hee, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute, who insisted that the list must be disclosed by any means."

Sung Il-jong, chairman of the Policy Committee, also raised his voice, saying, "We hope the Democratic Party will not exploit the sacrifice of young people as a shield for Lee Jae-myung," and "The dignity of the deceased and the painful hearts of their families were not considered in front of political gain. Their sole goal is regime overthrow."

Regarding the recent opposition party's signature campaign for a national investigation into the Itaewon disaster, he pointed out, "The Democratic Party, to save Leader Lee, even issued instructions to set up tent offices by region under the name of the secretary-general and to present signature targets," and questioned, "Is a signature campaign that discloses names without the consent of the bereaved families and rushes into the streets to meet assigned targets true mourning, or a planned regime overthrow movement disguised as mourning?"

Chairman Sung of the Policy Committee said, "I have never heard of filling signature targets for mourning," and added, "Please do not use the tragic sacrifice of young people to save the criminal suspect Lee Jae-myung."

Jeong Jin-seok, emergency committee chairman, also stated through social network services (SNS) on the same day, "Disclosing the list of victims without the consent of the bereaved families wounds the families' pain once again," and "Legal action is definitely necessary."

He then urged the Democratic Party, "Even now, immediately stop the shameless act of exploiting the tragedy of the Itaewon disaster to shield Lee Jae-myung."

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