Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Progressive group under probe for defaming LKP head Hwang
Leaflets criticizing main opposition Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn are in the mailboxes of an apartment building in Seoul. / Captured from the Facebook of the Youth Party
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
Police are investigating a progressive group for allegedly defaming the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn in leaflets that describe Hwang as a “pro-Japanese collaborator” with “a cunning face.”
Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn / Yonhap
Seoul Seongbuk Police Station officers said Friday they would next week officially summon a staffer from the “investigation team for Hwang Kyo-ahn's arrest” ― a unit set up by the Youth Party ― for questioning over the defamation allegations.
Police earlier asked the staffer, surnamed Jang, voluntarily to come to the police station for questioning but he refused.
The team has allegedly distributed fliers that call for Hwang's arrest through apartment building mailboxes across Seoul.
The leaflets have the word “WANTED” on them and an altered photo showing Hwang in a prison uniform with the number “504,” referring to former President Park Geun-hye, whose prison number is 503. Hwang was prime minister under Park and acting president after Park was ousted following a massive corruption scandal.
In the fliers, the team claimed Hwang conspired to hold a coup and meddled in investigations into the Sewol ferry disaster. They also said he should be arrested and investigated for the violent methods his party members employed to block the fast-tracking of judiciary reform bills in April.
Other phrases in the leaflets include: “Eradicate pro-Japanese collaborator Hwang Kyo-ahn,” “He has a cunning face,” “He has the face of a person who is likely to conspire to hold rebellions,” and “He had good skin after an eight-day hunger strike.”
The phrases ridiculed his political activities, such as the hunger strike he staged last month in front of Cheong Wa Dae to urge the National Assembly not to pass fast-tracked bills.
An LKP member, who is a councilor of Seongbuk-gu, reported the leaflets to police. They confirmed Jang distributed the leaflets, through a surveillance camera recording at an apartment building.
According to police, Hwang's aides said they would also file a formal complaint soon against the distributors for defamation.