Expressions of Regret Follow Over Candidate Do Tae-woo's Continued Nomination by People Power Party Amid '5·18 Distortion' Controversy

Gwangju-area Democratic Party Preliminary Candidates Urge 'Public Apology'

Gwangju City Requests Efforts to Eradicate 5·18 Historical Distortion

The People Power Party's decision to maintain the nomination eligibility of candidate Do Tae-woo (Daegu Jung-Nam District), who claimed the 'May 18 North Korean military involvement suspicion,' has drawn deep regrets from various sectors.

Democratic Party preliminary candidates Jeong Jin-wook (Gwangju Dong-gu Nam-gu Gap), An Do-geol (Gwangju Dong-gu Nam-gu Eul), Jo In-cheol (Gwangju Seo-gu Gap), Yang Bu-nam (Gwangju Seo-gu Eul), and Park Gyun-taek (Gwangju Gwangsan-gu Gap) urged the People Power Party on the 13th to immediately withdraw the candidate and issue a public apology.

They stated, “The People Power Party claims that Do Tae-woo’s apology was recognized as sincere, thus confirming his nomination, but such temporary stopgap measures are nothing new.”

They continued, “The People Power Party deceived the public’s eyes with temporary measures to evade a momentary crisis and covered up the wrongdoing of historical distortion with the palm of their hand,” emphasizing, “The People Power Party can be called a party that errs but never corrects (過而不改).”

They also explained, “The May 18 Democratic Movement was a democratization movement that protected the constitutional history of democracy in the Republic of Korea and a human rights and peace movement that attracted worldwide attention,” adding, “In 2011, UNESCO registered related records as a World Documentary Heritage to honor the democratic spirit and sacrifices shown by the citizens of Gwangju during May 18.”

Furthermore, they demanded, “The People Power Party, which continuously commits historical distortion and outrageous remarks while forgetting these historical facts and lessons, must immediately apologize to the public, withdraw Do Tae-woo as a general election candidate, and present fundamental measures to prevent recurrence before the people and the spirits of the May 18 victims.”

The Gwangju Metropolitan City also expressed deep regret over the People Power Party’s decision.

Park Yong-su, Director of the Gwangju Democracy, Human Rights, and Peace Bureau, stated in a position paper, “This nomination by the People Power Party appears to be nothing more than granting an exemption for a responsibility-evading apology to avoid the crisis of nomination revocation.”

He added, “Candidate Do Tae-woo initially shifted responsibility to the media by saying in his first apology that ‘the North Korean military involvement remarks were distorted reports by the media and not true,’ but later, when a reexamination of the nomination began, he issued another apology, making anyone doubt the sincerity of his apology,” asserting, “Any citizen can easily verify how absurd the North Korean military involvement theory by Do Tae-woo is.”

He continued, “Since 2019, Do Tae-woo has repeatedly distorted and belittled the May 18 Democratic Movement on his YouTube broadcasts,” emphasizing, “This is a clear dissemination of false information about the May 18 Democratic Movement and historical distortion.”

He also noted, “The investigation results of the May 18 Truth Commission over the past four years have all confirmed that the North Korean military involvement theory during May 18 is false,” and said, “Nevertheless, the People Power Party’s decision to maintain Do Tae-woo’s nomination based on an insincere apology betrays the public’s expectation for the prompt realization of Han Dong-hoon’s promise to include the May 18 spirit in the constitutional preamble.”

He concluded, “We now ask that efforts be made to eradicate the distortion of May 18 history and to develop the May 18 spirit as a constitutional value and a universal value for humanity.”