Joo Ho-young: "Democratic Party Implicitly Agreed to Victim Disclosure... Will Sue Jang Kyung-tae"

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 reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kwon Hyun-ji] Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the Democratic Party for tacitly agreeing to the disclosure of the victim list of the Itaewon accident by a pro-Democratic Party media outlet. Regarding Jang Kyung-tae, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, who made remarks such as "poverty porno" about First Lady Kim Keon-hee, who accompanied President Yoon Suk-yeol on his Southeast Asia tour, he expressed his intention to file a complaint with the Ethics Committee.

After the National Assembly floor leaders' meeting on the 15th, Floor Leader Joo told reporters, "Although there is no way to read minds with a 'mind-reading method,' Lee Yeon-hee, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute, said she hoped the announcement would be made 'by any means necessary,' and since some people involved in the announcement were also affiliated with the Democratic Party, it seems they tacitly agreed," he said.

He said, "(The disclosure of the list) has a high possibility of violating the law, and since the list was disclosed and then erased and hidden, it appears to have been disclosed for intentional and political purposes, which will likely entail legal responsibility," adding, "The Democratic Party should criticize this, but because public criticism is strong, I guess it is an ambiguous situation where they neither support nor criticize the disclosure of the list."

On this day, ruling party figures unanimously raised their voices for the need for legal action regarding the disclosure of the Itaewon victims' list. Floor Leader Joo said, "We expect that there will be issues raised by the victims' families, and the party will observe the situation for the time being."

The People Power Party plans to file complaints against Supreme Council member Jang, who made inappropriate remarks about the First Lady, and Democratic Party spokesperson Kim Eui-gyeom, who distorted the remarks of the EU ambassador. Floor Leader Joo said, "Some issues regarding spokesperson Kim have already been filed, and we are preparing additional complaints related to the EU ambassador's remarks," adding, "Jang's 'poverty porno' remark was very distorted and wrong, and we plan to file a complaint for damage to dignity, among other reasons."

In his opening remarks at the floor leaders' meeting that day, Floor Leader Joo said, "The distorted mindset of the Democratic Party, which disparages the First Lady's pure volunteer activities and blindly criticizes anything related to President Yoon, has been revealed," adding, "What is even more problematic is that describing a photo shoot of any woman, especially the First Lady, as 'poverty porno' is extremely insulting and anti-women."

He said, "Prominent politicians from the Democratic Party have repeatedly committed sexual crimes of power over the past several years, and unwilling to admit this, they have committed secondary sexual crimes by inventing terms like 'victim complainant,' which no one had ever heard before," questioning the Democratic Party's 'gender sensitivity,' and requested the Democratic Party to "promptly discipline Supreme Council member Jang according to party rules and regulations."

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