Ruling party seeks punishment against opposition lawmaker for leaking Moon-Trump talks

The ruling Democratic Party Rep. Song Ki-hun speaks to journalists as he enters the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in the city's Seocho-gu, May 24, with a writ charging Rep. Khang Hyo-shang of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party of leaking the country's confidential diplomatic information to the public. Yonhap

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Wednesday it will file a petition with the parliamentary ethics panel against an opposition party lawmaker who leaked the content of phone talks between the presidents of South Korea and the United States.

Rep. Khang Hyo-shang of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is accused of having leaked the May 7 phone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump after he was told what was discussed between the leaders by a diplomat who worked at the Korean embassy in Washington D.C.

The DP said it will ask the ethics panel to punish Khang over the leak.

"Khang claimed his illegal disclosure of the Moon-Trump phone talks was aimed at serving the people's right to know, but this is an absurd claim," Rep. Jung Choun-sook, DP floor spokeswoman, told a press briefing.

During the phone talks, Moon reportedly asked Trump to visit Seoul immediately after his May 25-28 trip to Japan, and Trump proposed a short stop in Seoul on his way back home from Tokyo.

Early this month, Khang made public the conversation, claiming that Moon "begged" for Trump's visit.

The foreign ministry said Tuesday it will file criminal complaints against the diplomat and Khang for leaking the phone talks.

The DP urged the LKP to join its move to file the petition against Khang and to strip Khang of the parliamentary seat.

The leak has emerged as one of key issues that rival parties are politicizing amid a stalemate in the normalization of the National Assembly.

Rival parties also continued to clash over whether the spy agency is attempting to intervene in the 2020 general elections following a secret meeting between the intelligence agency chief and the director of the DP's think tank. (Yonhap)