Lee Jae Myung Urges Kim Moon Soo to "Come to His Senses" Over Absence from 5.18 Ceremony

Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, commented on Kim Moon Soo, the People Power Party presidential candidate, not attending the 45th anniversary ceremony of the 5·18 Democratization Movement held in Gwangju on the 18th. He stated, "Even now, I hope he will come to his senses and visit this evening to pay his respects as an act of reflection."

After attending the ceremony, Lee met with reporters and said, "I don't know whether he didn't come or couldn't come. Attending the 5·18 ceremony is, before politics, the minimum duty one owes to other people," he remarked.

Lee also commented on the fact that both the president and the prime minister were absent from the ceremony, saying, "It is a sad reality. If they had fulfilled their responsibilities, this would not have happened."

Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is leaving the burial site after attending the '45th Anniversary 5.18 Democratization Movement Commemoration Ceremony' held at the National 5.18 Democratic Cemetery in Bukgu, Gwangju on the 18th. 2025.5.18 Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Lee raised his voice regarding the People Power Party campaign's appointment and subsequent withdrawal of former Defense Minister Chung Ho Yong, who led the suppression of the 5·18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, as a senior advisor. He said, "I was appalled. Can this really be called the campaign of a presidential candidate of the Republic of Korea?"

Regarding lawyer Seok Dong Hyun, who recently resigned from the People Power Party campaign, Lee said, "He claims to remember 5·18, but I don't think he is sincere at all. It seems like he is deceiving the people, mocking history, and ridiculing the victims of 5·18."

On the so-called 'Chun Doo Hwan slush fund', Lee emphasized, "For state violence, military coups, and acts or attempts by state power to kill citizens, the statute of limitations should be excluded, and as long as he is alive, he must be held criminally accountable." He added, "The statute of limitations for civil liability should also be excluded."