Democratic Party Calls for Police Probe into Remarks by Former Instructor Jeon Han-gil Calling Protest a 'Second Itaewon Disaster'

The Democratic Party has called for an immediate police investigation into former Korean history instructor Jeon Han-gil's remarks that referred to a vote counting station blockade protest as a 'Second Itaewon Disaster.' The Democratic Party criticized the statement as an act of 'depravity' for using a tragedy that resulted in 159 deaths as material for political delusion, labeling it as clear defamation and the spread of serious false information.

In a written briefing on the 14th, Democratic Party spokesperson Bu Seung-chan stated that Jeon's remarks were clear defamation and the spread of serious false information, falsely accusing the government and the Democratic Party of intending to suppress the protest violently. Bu strongly warned against the behavior of using the grief of the bereaved families as material for conspiracy theories.

The Democratic Party pointed out that Jeon's remarks could threaten safety at actual sites and increase the risk of disaster, urging the police to investigate Jeon immediately and hold him fully accountable to respond strictly so that 'no conspiracy theories of the Jeon Han-gil type can take root.' Bu added that spreading such claims at a crowded site could itself increase the risk of a real disaster, and the responsibility for it would never be light.

Jeon claimed during a YouTube live broadcast on the 12th at the protest site blocking the vote counting station in front of the Handball Stadium at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, that 'they could set fire inside,' 'if 10,000 or 20,000 people are mobilized for a brawl, it will create a justification for police deployment,' and 'it could create a Second Itaewon Disaster.' The protest on that day was in response to the ballot shortage incident during the 6.3 local elections.