[Exclusive] "5·18 is a Riot" Lee Jong-myung Appointed as Chairman of the Satellite Future Korea Party Supporters Association

Assemblyman Lee Jong-myung of the Liberty Korea Party and Supreme Council Member Kim Soon-rye, who were referred to the National Assembly Disciplinary Committee for their controversial remarks about the May 18 Gwangju Uprising / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Lee Jong-myung, a member of the Future Korea Party who had labeled the May 18 Democratic Uprising as a riot, has been appointed as the chairman of the central party’s support committee. The Future Korea Party is a satellite party for proportional representation created by the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the United Future Party. The support committee chairman serves as the face for receiving party donations and can raise up to 5 billion KRW annually.

According to the National Election Commission on the 26th, the Future Korea Party changed its Preparatory Committee Support Group to the Central Party Support Committee and registered Lee as the chairman. The support committee office address was changed from the Woosung Building in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, which was formerly used as the Liberty Korea Party headquarters, to the office address of Han Sun-kyo, the Future Korea Party leader, in the National Assembly Members’ Office Building. Lee is also expected to participate as a member of the Future Korea Party’s nomination management committee, which will be launched soon.

In a phone interview with Asia Economy, Lee said, “Aside from running for office, I only have the intention to contribute by selecting qualified individuals who will sacrifice for the country as proportional representatives,” adding, “There will be no such (candidacy) situation in the future.”

Shim Jae-cheol, floor leader of the United Future Party, stated on the 13th, “At a closed party meeting, we resolved to expel Lee. (He) will be going to the Future Korea Party,” but made no mention of the May 18 remarks.

Lee had invited Ji Man-won, who claims that the citizens who participated in the May 18 Democratic Uprising were “North Korean special forces,” to hold a public hearing at the National Assembly in February last year. At that event, Lee said, “It was turned into a democratic movement by forces that politically exploited it,” and added, “It only took 10 or 20 years for that to happen, so isn’t it time to overturn it once again?”

Ji was sentenced to prison on the 13th after being indicted for defamation four years ago but was not detained in court. Coincidentally, this was the same day Lee was expelled and moved to the Future Korea Party.

The May 18 Memorial Foundation and three May 18 organizations (the Bereaved Families Association, the Injured Association, and the Detained Injured Association) issued a statement the following day, saying, “The Liberty Korea Party delayed processing Lee’s expulsion motion for a year under various excuses and only finalized it now. They shamelessly revealed that the purpose was not to discipline the offensive remarks but to send him to the satellite party, the Future Korea Party,” criticizing it as “a cunning political move that disregards the people and mocks public sentiment.”

When criticism over the May 18 public hearing intensified, Kim Byung-joon, then emergency committee chairman of the former Liberty Korea Party, apologized. Regarding Lee, the party had only decided on expulsion but did not process it until suddenly resolving it this time.

The central party support committee was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court but was reinstated through a legal amendment in June 2017. Accordingly, the Justice Party and the Democratic Party of Korea registered their central party support committees in the same year, but the Liberty Korea Party only established theirs in May last year. This is interpreted as considering the unfavorable public opinion due to former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment.

Meanwhile, the Justice Party criticized earlier this month that the former Liberty Korea Party was jointly promoting the Future Korea Party Central Party Preparatory Committee Support Group on its official SNS, calling it a clear violation of the law.