Yoon Jae-ok: "Democrats' Unilateral Passage of 'Activist Self-Privilege Law'... Firm Opposition"

Criticism of the Democratic Party at the In-House Strategy Meeting on the 15th
"They Are Not Democratic Forces but Established Powers"

Yoon Jae-ok, Acting Party Leader of the People Power Party, stated on the 15th, "We firmly oppose the Democratic Merit Act, which damages the true spirit of the democratization movement and attempts to legally entrench the vested interests of the 586 activist group."

At the party floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, Acting Leader Yoon said, "I cannot help but deeply lament the legislative rampage that forcibly pushes through this evil law until the very end of the 21st National Assembly, a law that the Democratic Party of Korea did not actively pursue despite holding a majority during the Moon Jae-in administration, fearing the harsh public criticism."

Yoon Jae-ok, Floor Leader of the People Power Party and Acting Party Leader, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Earlier, the Democratic Party attempted to pass the Democratic Merit Act unilaterally during the full meeting of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee the previous morning. Members of the People Power Party on the committee opposed this and referred the bill to the agenda adjustment committee, but the Democratic Party, together with the minor Progressive Party, forcibly passed the bill. People Power Party members were absent.

The Democratic Merit Act primarily aims to honor those who suffered death, injury, or convictions during democratization movements other than the April 19 and May 18 movements, which are already covered by existing laws. The Democratic Party has been pushing for the bill, arguing that democratization movement victims who have been overlooked in the veterans' affairs system deserve proper recognition, but the People Power Party has opposed it, calling it a "law that produces fake merit recipients."

Acting Leader Yoon pointed out, "The core faction within the Democratic Party pushing for the Democratic Merit Act consists of former activists who entered politics and advanced their careers by leveraging their democratization movement backgrounds."

He added, "Creating the Democratic Merit Act on top of the Democratization Compensation Act is an arrogant idea that treats democratization as their exclusive property and privatizes democratization as vested interests and privileges. They have ceased to be democratization forces and have instead degenerated into vested interest groups that must be swiftly eliminated from our society."

People Power Party members of the Political Affairs Committee criticized in a press conference the previous day, stating, "If this law passes, incidents such as the Namminjeon case, which was judged as a representative public security case and anti-state organization, the Busan Dongui University incident that took the lives of seven police officers, and the movement opposing the dissolution of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (JeonGyoJo) will be recognized as acts of national merit."

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