Opposition leader regains consciousness after being taken to hospital due to hunger strike
Liberty Korea Party spokesman Kim Myeong-yeon speaks about the party chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn's health condition in front of Severance Hospital's emergency ward in Seoul's Seodaemun District, Wednesday night. Hwang was taken to the hospital after losing consciousness on his eighth day of hunger strike in front of Cheong Wa Dae. Yonhap
The chief of South Korea's main opposition party regained consciousness Thursday after he was taken to a hospital a day earlier following eight days of hunger strike, officials said.
Liberty Korea Party (LKP) chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn lost consciousness on Wednesday night while fasting in protest of controversial bills on election reform and a corruption probe unit. He was immediately sent to Severance Hospital in west Seoul, according to party officials.
"His vital signs such as breathing and pulse have stabilized. He appears to have passed the worst, but it is not a situation we can relax," Rep. Kim Myung-yeon told reporters.
Hwang began his fast on Nov. 20, demanding that President Moon Jae-in revoke his decision not to renew Seoul's military intelligence-sharing deal with Japan and that key reform bills, now on a parliamentary fast track, be withdrawn.
Hwang's health conditions have deteriorated as he has not taken food while protesting in an outdoor tent in the cold.
Liberty Korea Party floor leader Na Kyung-won, with other party members behind, tries to communicate with the party chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn lying inside a tent in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
The government on Friday "conditionally" suspended the termination of the pact with Japan.
But Hwang continued to fast, demanding the cancellation of an election reform bill and a proposal to set up a new agency to investigate corruption involving high-ranking officials.
The ruling Democratic Party and three minor parties designated those bills as fast-track legislation in late April despite objections from the LKP.
The bill to adopt a new proportional representation system was automatically referred to a plenary session Wednesday.
LKP lawmakers may seek to play hardball in a bid to deter the parliamentary passage of the bills. (Yonhap)