Defector-turned-lawmaker under fire for 'ideological verification' of minister nominee

North Korean defector and lawmaker Thae Yong-ho of the main opposition United Future Party asks Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young, a four-term lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, questions during Lee's confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Thae's questions related to Lee's career as a student activist caused controversy as it appeared Thae was trying to verify Lee's political ideology. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho

By Jung Da-min

North Korean defector and lawmaker Thae Yong-ho of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) has come under fire for causing an outdated ideological dispute during the confirmation hearing of Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young.

Members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), to which Lee belongs, denounced Thae's remarks as insulting.

The controversy erupted during the hearing, Thursday, for four-term lawmaker Lee who was the inaugural leader of a now-defunct association of university student representatives, a pro-unification group that was part of the pro-democracy movement in the 1980s. The group has been called “pro-Pyongyang” by conservatives, and since his nomination, the conservative UFP has expressed concerns that the politician could push for a North Korea policy in terms of possible violations of international sanctions on Pyongyang that the U.S. may not agree with.

Thae, a former North Korean diplomat who fled to the South in 2016, claimed the group members were followers of Juche, the North Korean regime's official ideology which is described by the country as founding leader Kim Il-sung's “original, brilliant and revolutionary contribution to national and international thought.”

“When I was in North Korea in the 1980s, the North Korean regime believed that there were a lot of followers of Juche ideology in the South. They said the members of the student organization reaffirmed their determination to liberate their country from U.S. imperialism every morning, in front of a portrait of Kim Il-sung,” Thae said.

On Thae's question as to whether Lee was also a follower of Juche and whether he had clearly showed that he had converted from Juche to South Korean ideology, the nominee said the North Korean regime had the wrong information and he had no such memory of swearing loyalty to Kim Il-sung or following Juche.

“I think I have to say that Rep. Thae lacks understanding of South Korean democracy,” the former floor leader of the DPK said. “I can make it clear that I was not a follower of the Juche Ideology at the time and I am not now.”

The DPK and other liberal minor opposition parties criticized Thae for resurrecting an outdated dispute by demanding Lee verify his ideology.

“We express deep concerns over UFP members who pose outdated and ungrounded questions without hesitation. Are they living in the 21st century?” DPK spokeswoman Heo Yun-jung said in a statement. “People won't accept that Thae, who defected to the South in August 2016, tried to verify a Republic of Korea lawmaker based on the education he received at the time of his defection.”

Rep. Yoon Young-chan of the DPK also wrote on his social media, “A former North Korean diplomat who was born and lived in North Korea for 54 years and defected to the South, pushed a four-term lawmaker who was a ruling party floor leader, to answer whether he converted his ideology. This situation makes me have a bitter smile.”

Kim Dong-gyun, deputy speaker of the liberal minor opposition Justice Party, criticized Thae for trying to verify Lee's ideology when such verification is a form of suppression used by the country's former totalitarian governments before its democratization.

“It is absurd that Thae, who fled from the North Korean dictatorship, is wielding the sword of dictatorship in South Korea where he settled down,” Kim said. “We call for Thae to have the right attitude to respect the people's rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.”