Controversy Over Special Legislation for Democratic Meritorious Persons... Opposition: "A Law That Recognizes Sacrifice"

Kim Jong-min "A Law Realizing the Purpose of the National Merit Act"
Opposition "Goal is to Pass the Subcommittee Next Month"

The Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for the Democratic Merit Act, which recognizes participants in the democratization movement as meritorious persons, sparking ongoing controversy. The core of the bill is to designate and honor participants in democratization movements other than those recognized under the Democratization Compensation Act, such as the April 19 Revolution and the May 18 Democratization Movement, as 'Democratic Meritorious Persons.' The People Power Party criticized this as a 'self-benefit for activists.' In response, Kim Jong-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker in charge of reviewing the bill, rebutted these claims point by point.

According to the National Assembly Legislative Information System on the 1st, the "Act on the Honor and Support of Democratic Meritorious Persons" (Democratic Merit Act) is currently pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's bill review subcommittee. Proposed by Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Won-sik, the bill stipulates that the state shall provide appropriate honors to those who sacrificed or contributed to democratization movements and their bereaved families, including government support for education, employment, medical care, loans, elderly care, and child-rearing.

Currently, participants in the April 19 Revolution and the May 18 Democratization Movement are honored as separate meritorious persons, but those involved in other democratization movements, such as the June Struggle, have not been registered as meritorious persons. The Democratic Party argues that, due to fairness issues with the April 19 Revolution and May 18 Democratization Movement, other democratization movements should also be recognized as national meritorious persons. However, the ruling party claims that "even those involved in incidents with controversies over anti-state organizations will be designated as meritorious persons." There are also criticisms that Democratic Party lawmakers promoting this bill may benefit from 'self-legislation.'

Kim Jong-min: Claims of preferential legislation are false... Education and employment benefits excluded

However, the Democratic Party rebutted that the Democratic Merit Act is neither preferential legislation, self-legislation, nor opaque legislation. Kim Jong-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker, recently stated at a Democratic Party policy coordination meeting in the National Assembly that the core of the preferential legislation controversy is that children of national meritorious persons receive benefits in education, admissions, housing, and employment, which are already stipulated in the National Meritorious Persons Act. He added, "In fact, it should be applied similarly to national meritorious persons, but since this is not about seeking economic benefits, all preferential elements related to education and employment were removed from the law." Kim is the chairman of the first subcommittee of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee reviewing the Democratic Merit Act.

He explained, "The reason for creating this law is that, except for well-known figures like martyr Jeon Tae-il, martyr Park Jong-chul, and martyr Lee Han-yeol, those who died or were injured for democracy are still treated as communists. They are not seeking money or benefits but want to clear their grievances and have their sacrifices for the Republic of Korea and its community recognized."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Both the Democratic Merit Act proposed by Woo Won-sik and the one by Jeon Jae-soo, currently under review by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, contain provisions related to education and employment support. The National Assembly Budget Office estimated the related costs to be between 1.1 billion and 2.3 billion KRW annually. Regarding this, a Democratic Party official from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee explained, "During the subcommittee discussions, significant parts related to education and employment were removed."

Lawmaker Kim Sung-joo is not a beneficiary... Self-legislation controversy is false

Regarding allegations that lawmaker Kim Sung-joo, who is reviewing the bill, is creating legislation that benefits himself, Kim Jong-min rebutted. He explained, "Lawmaker Kim Sung-joo is not a beneficiary of this law because, although he was injured in the past, he did not receive a disability rating and thus does not qualify as an injured person under this law."

Previously, there were allegations that lawmaker Kim Sung-joo, who could be a beneficiary of the Democratic Merit Act, was reviewing the bill, raising suspicions of self-legislation. In response, Kim Sung-joo clarified on the 27th of last month after a Democratic Party floor meeting, stating, "I am not a beneficiary of the Democratic Merit Act."

Kim Jong-min also explained, "During the 1990 Labor Movement 100th Anniversary protest, I was collectively assaulted by police and suffered injuries requiring six weeks of treatment, but I was judged as 'outside the rating' during the compensation review process, so I am not a beneficiary under Woo Won-sik's bill either."

Regarding criticisms that the bill is opaque legislation with unknown beneficiaries, he explained, "All national meritorious person recognitions require individual applications, and after obtaining consent for personal information, the Compensation Meritorious Person Review Committee deliberates and makes the final decision, so it cannot be an opaque selection." He also stated that people involved in violent incidents such as the Namminjeon case or arson related to violent acts cannot become meritorious persons. Kim said, "Among the target incidents, those involving violence or problematic ideology are excluded; only the deceased and injured are eligible, and cases violating the National Security Act and Criminal Act are excluded. The Democratic Merit Review Committee also deliberates on social consensus. The actual number of beneficiaries could be around 100 or 200."

Meanwhile, Democratic Party spokesperson Kim Han-gyu said regarding the Democratic Merit Act, "There is a consensus that it needs to be processed," adding, "The Democratic Party's position is to pass it in the subcommittee by next month at the latest after thorough review by both ruling and opposition parties."

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