Park Kyung-seok, Former Jeonjangyeon Leader, "Even Martin Luther King Had Over 30 Criminal Records..."

Rep. Ha Tae-kyung's Criticism of Violence Rebutted
"Jeonjangyeon Is Not a Subsidized Organization"

Park Kyung-seok, the representative of the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Jeonjangyeon), responded to Rep. Ha Tae-kyung of the People Power Party mentioning Jeonjangyeon while pledging to eradicate accounting fraud, fake news rumors, and incitement of violence, saying, "Rep. Ha claims Jeonjangyeon is a group that incites violence, but Martin Luther King had over 30 criminal records."

Reverend Martin Luther King was a prominent American human rights activist who fought against racial discrimination against Black people.

In an interview on the 7th with YTN Radio's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon,' Park said, "Martin Luther King blocked buses and protested at restaurants that discriminated against Black people, and he was arrested," adding, "Can Rep. Ha label Martin Luther King and the organization as the most violent inciting groups in the U.S., target them, divide people, and investigate them?"

Earlier, Ha Tae-kyung, who serves as the chair of the People Power Party's Special Committee for the Advancement of Civic Groups, raised suspicions that Jeonjangyeon misappropriated civic group subsidies to pay daily wages to participants in subway protests.

At the second meeting of the Special Committee for the Advancement of Civic Groups on the 5th, Rep. Ha claimed, "Jeonjangyeon disguised illegal protests as jobs and submitted performance reports," and stated, "Jeonjangyeon received about 7.1 billion won in subsidies over the past three years for the Severe Disability Public Job Project, but 50% of the 'Severe Disability Public Job Project cases' conducted with the subsidies were assemblies and campaigns."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding this, Park said, "Jeonjangyeon has repeatedly stated that it is not an organization receiving subsidies," and pointed out, "They say daily wages were paid, but those people are workers in rights-centered public jobs, not people mobilized and paid daily wages."

He continued, "Those people receive monthly salaries through rights-centered public jobs, working 15 to 20 hours a week and earning close to 750,000 to 1,000,000 won per month," adding, "If you say these people were mobilized and paid daily wages, how insulting is that to them? An apology is necessary."

Park said, "Monitoring accounting fraud related to government subsidies is a basic duty of the state," but added, "What are you auditing when Jeonjangyeon has not received a single won in subsidies?" According to Park, Jeonjangyeon does not receive government subsidies, and although allied organizations working with Jeonjangyeon may receive subsidies, they are separate entities, so Jeonjangyeon has no authority to interfere with those subsidies.

Park speculated, "It seems Jeonjangyeon was mentioned first because of the subway protests."

He added, "As the chair of the special committee, I would like to once again suggest that you come forward responsibly and have a discussion together."