Opposition demands firing of veterans affairs minister

By Jun Ji-hye

Park Sung-choon, Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister

Three opposition parties agreed, Monday, to submit a joint resolution calling on President Park Geun-hye to dismiss Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Park Sung-choon over his decision to hold a controversial military parade in Gwangju to commemorate the 1950-53 Korean War.

The resolution will be signed this week by the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) and two smaller parties, the People’s Party and Justice Party, said MPK floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho.

They objected to the earlier decision by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to include the Army’s 11th Airborne Special Forces Brigade in the parade to commemorate the war, along with other Army troops.

Amid deepening controversy, the ministry announced its decision later in the day to cancel the parade, saying that the city as well as civic groups in the region did not want it to take place.

The parade was as part of a nationwide event, scheduled to be held Saturday, to mark the 66th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, but opposition parties reacted against it, citing the brigade’s role in suppressing the May 18 democratic uprising in the city in 1980, during which hundreds of civilians were killed and wounded by the military.

Earlier in the day, Rep. Woo said during a party meeting that the opposition parties could not understand how the ministry planned to let troops of the brigade out in the streets of Gwangju at a time when the wounds of the uprising have yet to completely heal.

“We can never forgive Minister Park, as his behavior is beyond acceptable,” he said.

Rep. Park Ji-won, floor leader of the People’s Party, urged the President to make a swift decision to sack the minister.

“There is no need to defend him, considering the amount of trouble he has made so far,” Park said. “If President Park refuses to sack the minister, it will be her virtual denial of the May 18 pro-democracy movement.”

Rep. Park cited earlier controversy surrounding the minister last month over a decision not to accept the symbolic pro-democracy song, “Imeul Wihan Haengjingok” (March for the Beloved), as the official song for a government-led memorial service for the pro-democracy movement in Gwangju.

Because of the decision, the minister was barred from taking part in the ceremony by the relatives of those killed by soldiers.

Appointed to the post in 2011 by former President Lee Myung-bak, Minister Park, a retired Army lieutenant general, has been in office for the past five years, becoming one of the longest serving government ministers.

But he has frequently become the subject of controversy for some excessively conservative moves and improper remarks.

The minister faced public criticism in June 2014 for his comment disparaging the bereaved families who lost children in the Sewol ferry disaster in April of that year.

At the time, he said, “The people in this country criticize the government and the President whenever big accidents occur,” referring to the families of the victims who called on the government to thoroughly unearth the truth surrounding the tragic incident.

The Sewol ferry disaster killed more than 300 people, most of whom were high school students on a trip to Jeju Island.