By Kim Hyun-bin
Kim Sung-tae, the floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LPK), is under fire for his derogatory comments toward Lim Tae-hoon, chief of the Center for Military Human Rights.
Controversy arose after Kim claimed it's illogical for Lim, who is gay and a conscientious objector, to have a voice in military reform issues as Lim's group disclosed documents alleging abuse of power by the Defense Security Command (DSC).
It is mandatory for all able-bodied men in Korea to serve in the military for 21 months.
“How could a person who is confused about his own sexuality lead the military reform? It is illogical. How can people accept such people talking about military reform by representing the 600,000 troops?” Kim said. “Only a person who served in the military has the right to talk about military reform. I served 35 months.”
Lim said that his sexuality and military service have nothing to do with the DSC issue.
“We have unveiled the possibility of the government trying to impose martial law to quash public protests and other illegal acts by the DSC,” Lim said. “Because Kim is not able to provide a logical response, he is bringing in issues unrelated to the subject. He should stop his word games.”
He said if only people who served in the military can talk about military reform, those who have not visited Pyongyang should not talk about North Korean human rights. “Almost none of the LKP members have visited North Korea, so the party should not talk about North Korea's human rights issues,” Lim said.
Kim also said he did not like Lim putting on too much makeup when holding press conferences. Lim countered, saying he hopes LKP members don't wear makeup at all when they appear on TV programs.
Earlier this week, Lim claimed the DSC eavesdropped on former President Roh Moo-hyun and his defense minister's military phone line. The group also suspects the DSC illegally monitored millions of civilians.
The announcement also comes weeks after the revelation that the DSC devised a detailed plan to declare martial law, in preparation for expected fierce protests if the Constitutional Court ruled against then-President Park Geun-hye's impeachment last year. President Moon Jae-in has recently ordered an independent probe on the issue.
Kim says it's troublesome that classified military information ended up in the hands of a civic group.
“It is worrisome that the Center for Military Human Rights, a civic group, was able to obtain classified military information unrelated to human rights and the President even commented on it,” Kim said.
The LPK is seeking to establish a taskforce to investigate the source of the leak and how the group was able to access the classified information.