LKP leader tackles Sewol defamatory remarks

Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, right, speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Wednesday. He apologized for its members' defamatory remarks about the victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, pledging to refer them to the party's ethics committee for disciplinary measures. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn vowed to deal out a stern punishment, Wednesday, to party members who made defamatory remarks about the victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster and their relatives.

Apologizing to the public for their remarks, he said the offending members would be referred to the party's ethics committee for disciplinary measures.

“Some LKP members made inappropriate remarks about the victims and their families. The comments were hurtful to the victims as well as the country's citizens,” Hwang said during a party meeting.

The measure came after political parties and public citizens criticized Rep. Chung Jin-suk of the LKP and Cha Myung-jin, a former LKP lawmaker who is currently heading a regional office of the party, for making disrespectful remarks about the surviving victims and families who lost loved ones on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy.

Chung and Cha posted on Facebook that the bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster were taking advantage of their children's deaths for their own benefit. Cha said he was “sick and tired” of hearing their grievances.

Rep. Chung posted a message he received on Facebook saying “Stop using the Sewol disaster. If the families felt sorry about their children, they shouldn't do this. I am sick of it.” Chung deleted the post later and apologized Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Hwang expressed regret over Chung and Cha's remarks on the Sewol disaster, offering his condolences to the victims and families.

“The party's ethics committee will take appropriate action. Again, I apologize for what happened,” he said.

Party officials said the LKP may refer Chung and Cha to the ethics committee on Friday to discuss disciplinary measures against them.

The disaster, which killed more than 300 people, most of them high school students on a field trip, shocked South Koreans. The victims have been urging the government to take responsibility for its incompetence and requesting an investigation into the causes of the sinking.

The victims and their families announced Monday the list of 18 people who were responsible for the scale of the disaster and escaped punishment. Former President Park Geun-hye and Hwang, who was justice minister at the time, were on the list.

“The LKP is attracting more support by making hateful remarks and it gets more competitive as it is working,” Rep. Hong Young-pyo, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), said during a radio interview, Wednesday. “There is no point in punishing the disputed LKP members if the LKP doesn't change the atmosphere that allows for such a situation.”

The minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace released a commentary saying “It is not a coincidence that the LKP members made such defamatory remarks. The party is using the situation for political gain. Hwang was serving as the justice minister when the Sewol ferry disaster occurred. He should take responsibility for what happened.”