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| Rep. Kim Gi-heyon, floor leader of the conservative main opposition People Power Party, speaks during a Supreme Council meeting of the party held at a regional branch in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Joint Press Corps |
By Jung Da-min
The floor leader of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is facing a barrage of criticism for objecting to an anti-discrimination bill proposed by the minor progressive Justice Party and some lawmakers of other liberal political camps.
In a meeting with the leaders of some Christian groups at the National Assembly, Wednesday, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon stated his commitment to preventing the passage of the bill that aims to ban all forms of discrimination. He was responding to calls from the Christian leaders who expressed concerns that the bill goes against their religious doctrine which does not accept homosexuality.
"I am well aware of the problems of this anti-discrimination law, and will actively prevent the passage of the bill as the floor leader of the main opposition party," Rep. Kim told the religious leaders. "We need to gather general opinions from church groups of the country to deliver to presidential contenders so they can draw up their policy pledges to deal with this issue."
The anti-discrimination bill is aimed at banning all kinds of discrimination based on all kinds of reasons including gender, disability, age, language, country of origin, sexual orientation, physical condition, academic background and religion. A law comprehensively banning discrimination has been the subject of discussions at the National Assembly since 2007. But six previous attempts to pass such a bill, long-sought by human rights groups, have fallen afoul of some conservative Christian groups that oppose homosexuality. The seventh attempt to establish the law was made last year and is still pending in the 21st National Assembly.
The remarks by the PPP floor leader immediately drew criticism from members of the country's liberal bloc.
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| Minor opposition Justice Party leader Yeo Young-kug, second from right, and floor leader Rep. Bae Jin-gyo, attend a rally calling for the legislation of an anti-discrimination law, at the National Assembly in Seoul, June 29. Korea Times file |
The South Korean Coalition for Anti-discrimination Legislation, composed of members of different rights groups, issued a statement, Friday, condemning Kim for making discriminatory remarks against sexual minorities.
"We demand the PPP's leadership to clarify its stance on the anti-discrimination law if its floor leader's remarks were the party's official stance on the matter," read the statement. "If the PPP's official stance is to block the legislation for the realization of equal rights guaranteed in Article 11 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, then the PPP is not eligible to be a political party of the country."
Kang Min-jin, head of the Justice Party's youth division, also criticized Kim's remarks, Thursday. "The essence of Kim raising his voice against the anti-discrimination law by saying he would prevent it no matter what is nothing but a mixture of begging for votes and aggravating hatred," Kang said.
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| Kang Min-jin, head of the minor opposition Justice Party's youth division / From Kang Min-jin's Facebook page |
Among the four presidential contenders of the PPP who are competing in the party primary to select its candidate for the next presidential election in March 2022, three potential candidates ― former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, five-term lawmaker Rep. Hong Joon-pyo and former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong ― said they are against the anti-discrimination law. The other contender, former four-term lawmaker Yoo Seong-min, has not shared his opinion regarding the matter.
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