The Democratic Party of Korea on Thursday demanded an immediate apology from People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok after he questioned the "mental world" of President Lee Jae-myung, who had said he had not read the revised Code of Criminal Procedure. The party called the remark "the worst outburst in history."
Han Byung-do, the party's acting leader and floor leader, said on Facebook that Jang was "waging a gutter-level political offensive by cherry-picking isolated remarks from the president's work briefing."
Han said Jang had previously held up a sign reading "Jae-myung, fight me," and had now gone so far as to question the president's state of mind. "I express deep regret over the string of crude and outrageous remarks from the leader of the main opposition party," he said.
Han also said President Lee, as the person with overall responsibility for state affairs, was "fully versed in the general intent and key provisions of the revised Code of Criminal Procedure." He criticized Jang for "stripping away all context and nitpicking in a self-serving way — a childish and petty political attack."
Chief spokesperson Kang Jun-hyeon said at a briefing that Jang's remarks amounted to "the worst outburst ever — insulting a president chosen by the people." He said the attack appeared to be "a desperate attempt to deflect" a resignation petition signed by 24,000 PPP members that was bearing down on Jang.
"All citizens of the Republic of Korea — PPP members included — can only wonder whether Jang's own mental world is intact and where his shamelessness comes from," Kang added.
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