Democratic Party: "Song Eonseok Made Extreme Remarks During Jeong Cheongrae's Speech... Will Hold Him Accountable"

Remark from People Power Party Seats During Floor Leader's Speech
Democratic Party: "Strong Regret, Will Hold Accountable"

The Democratic Party of Korea expressed strong regret after a remark was made from the People Power Party seats during party leader Jeong Cheongrae's speech at the National Assembly, in which he stated, "If the 'Noh Sangwon Notebook' had succeeded in reality, both Lee Jaemyung and Jeong Cheongrae would no longer be alive." In response, someone from the People Power Party seats said, "It would have been better if that had happened."

Kwon Seongdong, a member of the People Power Party who has been charged with accepting illegal political funds and had an arrest warrant requested, attended the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 9th where his arrest consent bill was reported, shaking hands with Song Eonseok, the floor leader of the People Power Party. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On the afternoon of September 10, the Democratic Party's Public Relations Office issued a statement to reporters, revealing, "It has been confirmed that the person who made such unspeakable remarks about President Lee Jaemyung and the opposition party leader during Jeong Cheongrae's speech yesterday was Song Eonseok, the floor leader of the People Power Party." The party also released a video clip of the incident.

Regarding this, Park Suhyeon, the chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, met with reporters at the National Assembly's press center and said, "The content is truly shocking. Even if an ordinary lawmaker had said such a thing, it would be inexcusable. But the fact that Song Eonseok, who previously led the People Power Party as the emergency committee chair and now serves as the floor leader responsible for bipartisan cooperation on livelihood issues, displayed such a perception-one that could be described as seditious-is beyond shocking."

He continued, "The floor leader's remarks could be interpreted as wishing for the deaths of the president and the party leader. The Democratic Party, together with the public, expresses strong regret and will once again hold him accountable for this incident."

Earlier that morning, Jeong Cheongrae, during the Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly, released the video in question and stated, "Can you believe this? The 'Noh Sangwon Notebook' was a plan to actually kill hundreds or thousands of people under martial law. If it had succeeded, both President Lee and I would have died at that time. I am warning against this, yet are they saying it would have been better if we had died then?"