Democrats Raise 'North Korea Collusion' Allegation: "Shin Won-sik Resign from Assembly... Ethics Committee Referral"

Kim Byung-ju "Suspected Violation of No-Fly Zone by North Korean Drone"
Shin Won-sik "Democrats Voluntarily Act as 'Trojan Horse'"
Park Hong-geun "President Must Clearly State Position"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The Democratic Party of Korea demanded the resignation of People Power Party lawmaker Shin Won-sik, who raised allegations of 'collusion with North Korea' against members of his party.

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at the party members' meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the day, "We demand the resignation of lawmaker Shin Won-sik, who raised suspicions of collusion with North Korea against lawmaker Kim Byung-joo, who raised suspicions of North Korean drones violating our air defense identification zone," adding, "The People Power Party should apologize to lawmaker Kim and refer lawmaker Shin to the Ethics Committee."

Shin Won-sik, a member of the People Power Party, is attending the current issue inspection meeting held at the National Assembly on the 24th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

He added, "We also demand that Kim Eun-hye, the chief spokesperson who raised the collusion suspicions, clarify whether she coordinated with President Yoon Seok-yeol to raise conspiracy theories, and what the President's position is on lawmaker Shin Won-sik's remarks."

Floor leader Park said, "As the security crisis is turning into an economic crisis, it is necessary to hold more than two plenary session urgent questions targeting the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Unification, and National Defense," adding, "A resolution condemning North Korea can only be processed by opening the National Assembly, and the National Defense Committee must immediately hold a hearing related to the drone intrusion," demanding the opening of the January extraordinary session.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byung-joo raised the possibility of drone intrusion into areas including Eunpyeong, Jongno, Dongdaemun, Gwangjin, and Namsan based on the flight trajectory reported by the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the National Defense Committee meeting held on the 27th of last month, shortly after the North Korean drone provocation. At that time, the Joint Chiefs dismissed the suspicion, but the day before, they officially acknowledged that a North Korean drone had violated part of the northern air defense identification zone.

Subsequently, chief spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said at a briefing the day before, "The authorities are questioning the source of the information, as neither the Ministry of National Defense nor the Joint Chiefs of Staff knew where the information was obtained."

Shin Won-sik, a former three-star general and the ruling party's secretary of the National Defense Committee, criticized on Facebook that day, saying, "Why is the Democratic Party playing into North Korea's intentions?" and asked, "Is the Democratic Party truly North Korea's puppet or voluntarily acting as a 'Trojan horse'?"