Controversy Over '5·18 Denial' Leads Incheon City Council Chairman to Refuse Voluntary Resignation... No-Confidence Motion Proposed

Heo Sik (66), chairman of the Incheon Metropolitan Council, who caused controversy by circulating a newspaper containing content that disparages the May 18 Democratic Movement to fellow council members, is now facing the loss of his chairmanship.

According to the Incheon Metropolitan Council on the 19th, council members from the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea submitted a motion of no confidence against the chairman to the council secretariat the previous afternoon. The no-confidence motion can be proposed with signatures from at least one-quarter of the total members (40 members).

If the no-confidence motion is submitted to the council plenary session on the 23rd and passed by a majority of the total members, Chairman Heo will immediately lose his position.

Currently, the Incheon Metropolitan Council consists of 25 seats held by the People Power Party, 14 by the Democratic Party, and 1 independent seat (held by Chairman Heo). The passage of the no-confidence motion, which was unanimously approved by the People Power Party members at their meeting on the 13th, is considered certain.

Earlier, on the 2nd, Chairman Heo distributed a special edition newspaper of a certain media outlet titled '5·18 Special Edition' to the offices of 39 fellow council members, sparking controversy. The 40-page newspaper contained content disparaging the May 18 Democratic Movement, including claims such as "5·18 was an insurrection led by the DJ faction and North Korea" and "a significant number of 5·18 merit recipients are unrelated to the 5·18 event."

Heo, who was affiliated with the People Power Party, resigned from the party on the 7th after the Incheon City Party Ethics Committee announced it would hold a meeting to discuss disciplinary action against him regarding the 5·18 disparagement controversy.

However, he refused calls for resignation from civic groups as well as council members from both the Democratic Party and the People Power Party. Heo explained, "I told fellow council members that such a newspaper existed, and since many asked for it, I handed it over for their reference. There was no other intention."

On the 15th, it was revealed that Heo again shared a photo and link to an article about the 'North Korean military involvement theory in 5·18' in the council members' group chat, prompting the Gwangju Metropolitan Council’s 5·18 Special Committee to issue a statement urging his resignation as chairman.

Additionally, on the 12th, the Incheon Regional Solidarity and Incheon Peace and Welfare Solidarity filed a police complaint against Heo for violating the Special Act on the May 18 Democratic Movement. The Special Act stipulates that anyone who disseminates false information through newspapers or other publications related to 5·18 may face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won. The complainants argued that the prohibited acts under the Special Act include distributing already published newspapers.

Since taking office in July 2022, Heo has been embroiled in multiple controversies over his remarks. Last year, he caused public uproar by stating at official events that "Incheon education is subtly teaching communism" and "Children in Michuhol District constantly use foul language."

In 2022, he also posted a derogatory comment on his SNS referring to police officers opposing the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s establishment of a 'Police Bureau' as "police ragamuffins," which drew protests from the Incheon Police Workplace Council.

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