Opposition bigwig accused of treason

By Jung Sung-ki

A senior lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has been accused of treason for his controversial remarks defaming the incumbent administration, according to the Seoul Prosecutors’ Office Thursday.

A citizen charged Rep. Chun Jung-bae Wednesday with treason, arguing Chun’s comments were aimed at overthrowing the government and causing social confusion, a prosecutor said, declining to reveal the person’s identity.

“Chun called the Lee government a coup regime, but such remarks themselves are tantamount to a coup against the people and the government,” the citizen was quoted by Newsis news agency as saying.

In a public rally in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, last Sunday, Chun said, “Don’t you think we should kill the Lee Myung-bak administration?” claiming the President failed to manage state affairs properly.

His remarks immediately sparked a severe backlash from the presidential office and the ruling Grand National Party (GNP). Cheong Wa Dae and the GNP called on Chun to step down and urged DP chairman Sohn Hak-kyu to apologize for those inadvertent remarks.

Chun rebutted the calls, arguing he just spoke for the public disappointed at Lee’s “poor” management of government affairs.

Chun’s remarks are the latest in a series of verbal faux pas by legislators.

In a meeting with a group of female journalists earlier this month, GNP chairman Rep. Ahn Sang-soo inappropriately talked about widespread plastic surgery among Korean women.

During the conversation, however, Ahn said men prefer “natural” women at room salons.

His remarks invited angry reactions from the DP and women’s groups, as they were deemed sexist.

Ahn apologized last Sunday to the nation for the remarks.

Ahn had already been at the center of controversy for previous blunders.

Right after North Korea’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island Nov. 23, a TV news program showed him picking up two burnt thermos flasks from the debris of a bombed house on the island and describing them as shells fired by the North. It was a farce parodied in talk shows.

He also invited the wrath of Buddhists by branding the head monk of the Bongeun temple in southern Seoul as a leftwing monk.