People Power Party Demands Immediate Resignation from Assemblyman Park
"Insulting Ordinary Citizens as 'Far-Right' and 'Trash' is Disgraceful"
The People Power Party has strongly protested after Park Gyuntaek, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, suggested a garbage dump in Gwangju as a venue for a rally opposing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol by his supporters, demanding that Park immediately resign from his parliamentary seat.
On February 12, Lee Junwoo, spokesperson for the People Power Party, stated in a commentary, "Assemblyman Park Gyuntaek proposed a 'landfill' as the rally site for the Gwangju event, in which ordinary citizens such as lecturer Jeon Hangil are participating. A member of the National Assembly, who is paid with taxpayers' money, has made disgraceful remarks by insulting and disparaging ordinary citizens as 'far-right' and 'trash.'"
Previously, on February 10, Park Gyuntaek posted on his social media account an article titled, "Mayor of Gwangju, please show some generosity to the far-right group." This post was made after it became known that Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijeong had denied permission for President Yoon Suk-yeol's supporters to hold an anti-impeachment rally at the May 18 Democracy Square.
Park wrote, "It would have been impossible to permit a rally defending insurrection, led by a pseudo-historian who praises the modern-day military mutiny and the Taegukgi desecration group. It is a reasonable decision, as it would defile the sacred May 18 Square. It is the same logic as not allowing a pro-Japanese rally in front of the Independence Hall."
He continued, "Since we cannot deny the freedom of assembly, why not guide them to a more suitable location?" and shared the address "160 Dodong-gil, Nam-gu, Gwangju." This address corresponds to the Gwangju Metropolitan Sanitary Landfill, which includes a landfill and incineration facility. This led to criticism that Park was equating the rally participants with 'trash.'
Spokesperson Lee Junwoo also said, "Our citizens might be thinking that there are members of the National Assembly who themselves should be 'sorted out,' after seeing a lawmaker insult the sovereign people as 'far-right' and 'trash.' Assemblyman Park should immediately resign from his post."
The People Power Party's Gwangju chapter also issued a statement the same day, calling for the resignation of both Mayor Kang Gijeong and Assemblyman Park Gyuntaek, saying, "They have infringed on the freedom of assembly and made defamatory remarks."
The Gwangju chapter criticized Mayor Kang's comment on February 6, "There is no space for the far-right at the May 18 Democracy Square. Nazis cannot hold rallies at Holocaust memorials," stating, "As an administrator, it would have been wise to cite concerns about conflict and safety as reasons for the ban, but was it really necessary to express hostility and make defamatory remarks?"
The chapter also condemned Park's social media post, saying, "This is not only prohibiting the expression of one's own opinion, but also treating the people as trash."
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