LKP keeps members who disparaged Sewol victims

Liberty Korea Party (LKP) lawmaker Chung Jin-suk, left, and former LKP lawmaker Cha Myung-jin. Korea Times file

By Jung Da-min

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) has announced punitive measures against its two members who prompted public anger recently by making disparaging remarks against victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster and their family members.

The party’s ethics committee decided on Wednesday to impose a three-month suspension of party membership on former lawmaker Cha Myung-jin. The incumbent four-term lawmaker Chung Jin-suk received only a “warning.”

This contradicts its earlier pledge to punish them harshly in consideration of the public anger over their remarks. The other political parties have demanded the LKP expel them.

The decision came six weeks after the two used Facebook to accuse the bereaved family members of “taking advantage” of the people's sympathy over their children's deaths.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the minor opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Justice Party criticized the LKP over the measures.

“It is like a reward for such inhumane defamatory remarks, beyond issuing an indulgence,” DPK spokeswoman Rep. Lee Jae-jung said. “The LKP has again hurt the victims and bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster.”

The LKP has yet to implement an earlier decision made in February to hold a vote on whether to expel Rep. Lee Jong-myeong, one of three members who has come under fire for inviting a far-right figure to a public hearing, where defamatory remarks were made against participants of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980.

Implementation of the decision has been put on hold repeatedly, while the LKP cited its “difficult situation” at the National Assembly, which has been out of action for weeks due to recent conflicts over fast-tracking bills regarding electoral reform and establishing a new investigative body.

Two other LKP members who made similar disparaging remarks on the Gwangju uprising have been punished, with Rep. Kim Soon-rye being suspended from the party for three months and Rep. Kim Jin-tae receiving a warning.