LKP excludes far-right figure as fact-finder of Gwangju Uprising

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) decided not to recommend Jee Man-won, a controversial far-right figure, as a fact-finder for the May 18 Gwangju Uprising.

The LKP recommended three conservative figures on Monday as members of the inter-parliamentary committee to be launched to find the facts over the May 18 student-led pro-democracy movement. It took four months for the LKP to name the three after a special act was introduced to form the committee.

A special act took effect Sept. 14 to investigate human rights violations by the military during the May 18 democratic movement. Nine fact-finders should be recommended for the National Assembly speaker to form the special committee under the law. However, the committee wasn’t launched as the LKP didn’t submit its recommendations.

A controversial figure considered a loyalist of Park Geun-hye, Jee’s name was once floated for the committee but he failed to be recommended amid criticism by victims and the other political parties. Jee has been insisting the uprising was led by North Korean special military forces. Fifteen North Korean defectors pledged to file a defamation suit against Jee over his remarks for spreading false information about them.

However, controversy will likely continue over nominating members of the committee, as victims are opposing the LKP’s recommendations while Park loyalists insist Jee should be included.

The LKP recommended Kwon Tae-oh, a former chief of a special operations team of the Combined Forces Command, Lee Dong-wook, a former reporter of the Monthly Chosun magazine, and Cha Ki-hwan, a former judge at the Suwon District Court.

Victims’ organizations insist the recommendations should be retracted as the three were critical of the incident.

Yonhap Members from victims’ organizations for the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement hold a rally at the National Assembly, Monday, asking for a face-to-face meeting with Na Kyung-won, the floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), over the recommendation of special committee members to conduct an investigation into the uprising.