Democratic Party calls for expulsion of Rep. Kim Tae-gyu and considers filing charges after commenting, 'Chun Doo-hwan and Yoon Seok-yeol are not a civil war'

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jeong-jin and Choi Joo-seong = On the 2nd, the Democratic Party of Korea emphasized the need to expel People Power Party lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu, who said that former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Yoon Seok-yeol said, "This is not a civil war," and announced that they are also considering filing a complaint at the party level.

Chief Spokesperson Park Seong-joon met with reporters after the Supreme Committee meeting held at the National Assembly that day and said, "Kim Tae-gyu's remarks are remarks that destroy the constitutional order of the Republic of Korea and deny the democratic republic," and "He is one of the lawmakers who will definitely be expelled."

Senior Spokesperson Park pointed out, “We are also considering filing a complaint against Kim Tae-gyu at the party level,” adding, “In particular, the Chun Doo-hwan civil war has already been concluded, but by saying it is not a civil war, it is a serious challenge to the constitutional order because it is a denial of the civil war.”

To the People Power Party, he said, "Isn't Rep. Kim's statement a complete denial of the party's identity?" and emphasized, "A clear barometer of how Representative Jang Dong-hyuk views the Republic of Korea and May 18, and what his stance is on the civil war, comes from the handling of Rep. Kim's (disciplinary action)."

The leadership also criticized Rep. Kim in unison.

At the highest level this morning ahead of the National Assembly Steering Committee meeting, Floor Leader Han Byeong-do said, “We cannot have a person who advocates dictatorship and denies the Constitution in a position to represent the people,” and added, “We will definitely process the request for Rep. Kim’s expulsion at the National Assembly Steering Committee today.”

Supreme Council member Lee Seong-yoon raised his voice, saying, “Anyone who robbed the people of power by pointing a gun at the people, protected those who committed massacre of the people, and insulted the Gwangju May 18 Memorial is not qualified to be in the National Assembly,” and added, “They should be stripped of their seats as members of the National Assembly immediately.”

The Democratic Party is also considering improving the way the National Assembly Ethics Committee operates so that disciplinary procedures for Rep. Kim can be effectively carried out at the National Assembly level.

On the Democratic Party's YouTube broadcast on this day, Representative Kim argued that the National Assembly Ethics Committee is not functioning properly because it is composed of equal numbers of ruling and opposition parties, and said, "We are having very serious concerns about the equal number rule (in the National Assembly)."

In relation to this, a floor leader met with reporters at the National Assembly that day and said, “We are reviewing (the method of forming the ethics committee).”