Gov't blasts lawmaker for attending pro-North group's event in Japan

The Yoon Suk Yeol government called out an independent lawmaker Monday for attending a pro-North Korea group's event in Japan last week to commemorate the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, criticizing her actions as being illegal and "anti-state."

Lawmakers of the People Power Party submit a motion requesting disciplinary action against independent Rep. Yoon Mee-hyang at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, Monday, after she took part in an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake organized by a pro-North group in Japan last Friday. [NEWS1]

The Yoon Suk Yeol government called out an independent lawmaker Monday for attending a pro-North Korea group's event in Japan last week to commemorate the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, criticizing her actions as being illegal and "anti-state."

On Friday, Rep. Yoon Mee-hyang took part in an event organized by the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also referred to as Chongryon, instead of a similar event by the pro-Seoul Korean Residents Association in Japan to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacre of ethnic Koreans in the Great Kanto earthquake.

She didn't inform the government prior to attending the event during this trip, possibly on taxpayers' dime, and could in turn face fines and parliamentary disciplinary action.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho told a parliamentary budget and accounts committee on Monday that Yoon's attendance at the event hosted by Chongryon is "in violation of existing law."

The Unification Ministry also said it will consider imposing a fine on Yoon for attending the pro-North Korea group's event without notifying the government.

Yoon's failure to disclose her attendance of the Chongryon event is in apparent violation of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, which requires prior reporting before meeting Chongryon members.

When asked by a lawmaker in the budget committee meeting whether Yoon had violated the law, Minister Kim replied, "Rep. Yoon did not make any prior report to the Unification Ministry regarding her attendance of the Chongryon event. Therefore, this constitutes a violation of the law, and the Unification Ministry will proceed with procedures related to this issue in accordance with law and principles."

The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, founded in 1955, has long ties with the United Front Department of North Korea ruling Workers' Party and has served as Pyongyang's de facto embassy in Tokyo as the two countries do not have formal diplomatic ties.

In a meeting with senior aides Monday, President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a stern response to anti-state acts that threaten to destroy liberal democracy regardless of political ideology.

"We must resolutely respond together with all citizens, regardless of political faction, against anti-state acts that seek to shake and destroy the liberal democratic national system," President Yoon was quoted as saying by presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon. The remark appeared to be in direct response to Rep. Yoon's attendance of the pro-North group's event in Japan.

Officials are also looking into whether Rep. Yoon violated further laws, including the so-called "May 24 measures," independent sanctions imposed on North Korea during the Lee Myung-bak administration on May 24, 2010, after the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan warship earlier that year, the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and the National Security Act.

"Our Supreme Court has confirmed that Chongryon is an anti-state organization under the National Security Act," a presidential official told reporters Monday.

"How can the people comprehend the behavior of a National Assembly member who receives taxpayer money while attending an event held by an anti-state group, sitting to the end while being called a 'South Korean puppet?'" the official asked, saying this action goes beyond that of ideological differences.

"Whether you are left-wing or right-wing, conservative or progressive, there is an established premise that our constitutional values, the basic principles of liberal democracy and market economy, are upheld," the official said. "But can we join with political forces that directly deny our constitutional values? This issue is not a question of left or right, or of ideology, but an issue which could seriously threaten our constitutional values."

Independent Rep. Yoon Mee-hyang attends an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake at Yokoamicho Park in Tokyo organized by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan last Friday in a photo shared on her Facebook account. [YONHAP]

Foreign Minister Park Jin also told lawmakers of the budget committee that Rep. Yoon's attendance of the event was "inappropriate."

"Chongryon is an anti-state organization under the National Security Act," Park said. "It is also an agent of North Korea and has the characteristics of serving as North Korea's diplomatic mission in Japan."

He continued, "I don't think it is appropriate for a sitting member of the National Assembly to attend the Chongryon event in a situation where North Korea's nuclear and missile threats are increasing."

Yoon's actions have been drawing further flak when it was reported that the trip could have been funded by the National Assembly secretariat, meaning it was on taxpayers' money. She was also reportedly escorted in a Korean Embassy vehicle during her visit to Japan.

Overseas business trips for lawmakers related to their public work are decided upon through a process of submitting a plan containing the schedule and purpose of the visit to the National Assembly secretariat and undergoing through a review.

"The protocol for Rep. Yoon was carried out at a normal level through submitting an official document from the National Assembly secretariat," a Foreign Ministry official told the JoongAng Ilbo Sunday. "The official document was from the National Assembly secretariat, not a request under the name of an individual member of the National Assembly, meaning that this business trip was an official overseas business trip funded with taxpayers' money and that there was official approval and approval from the secretariat."

In the official document submitted to the National Assembly secretariat to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Yoon's trip, attending a Chongryon event was not listed on the itinerary regarding the purpose of the business trip.

The People Power Party (PPP) in turn filed a motion for disciplinary action against Yoon with the parliamentary special ethics committee on Monday, claiming her attendance of the Chongryon event was "in violation of her duties as a member of the National Assembly as stipulated by the National Assembly Act."

Earlier in the day, Rep. Yun Jae-ok, PPP's floor leader, said that Yoon was no longer qualified to be a lawmaker and urged her to resign or else be expelled.

"If one has the slightest patriotism for South Korea or even the slightest awareness of the North Korean regime, one should not go to an event hosted by a pro-North Korea front, nor sit there for even a single second," said the floor leader.

The PPP also criticized how Yoon was provided a vehicle by the Korean Embassy in Tokyo, adding that her actions "went beyond the legitimate duties of a member of the National Assembly."

Yoon in turn defended her choice and wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday, "Korea's conservative media should investigate the truth of the Kanto massacre and be courteous to the victims instead of dividing people with red-baiting."

She said she had received a suggestion for Korean lawmakers to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Kanto earthquake and "participate in a memorial event promoted by Japanese citizens and compatriots in Japan" and accepted it out of courtesy for their efforts.

She said that Korean Embassy officials in Japan picked her up from the airport and transported her to her accommodations but that "all other activities were carried out alone."

The Great Kanto earthquake struck Japan on Sept. 1, 1923, which led up to the massacre of ethnic Koreans living in Japan in the aftermath.

Unification Minister Kim responded to Yoon's remarks by rejecting accusations of red-baiting, telling lawmakers Monday that his agency "plans to deal with this issue under the principle that all citizens, including Rep. Yoon, are equal before the law."

Yoon, a former head of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan and longtime activist speaking for the rights of victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, was elected a proportional lawmaker for the liberal Democratic Party (DP) in April 2020.

The first-term lawmaker was expelled from the DP in 2021 over an embezzlement scandal involving donations to surviving victims.

This is the second time an ethics committee complaint has been filed against Yoon since September 2020, when charges of fraud and embezzlement of public funds were raised against her.

Yoon's former aide of nearly two years is also under investigation by the authorities for allegedly contacting North Korean agents in Vietnam and sending encrypted texts to Pyongyang.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]