The opposition Democratic Party on Tuesday demanded the new head of the nation’s top history research and education institute step down over his remarks describing the Kim Dae-jung administration’s policy of engaging Pyongyang as being pro-North Korea.

The Education, Sports, Culture, and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly received reports from Lew Young-ik, chief of the National Institute of Korean History, regarding the institution’s work as part of the parliamentary audits that began on Monday.

When asked what pro-North Korean and anti-American policies the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations effectuated, the outspoken right-wing historian pointed to Kim’s Sunshine Policy.

DP representatives voiced outrage at Lew’s statements.

“I cannot understand how such a person can be left to document our nation’s history,” DP spokesperson Park Yong-jin said.

Lew’s appointment last month to lead the nation’s authority on history studies was not without controversy as the DP and progressive scholars raised a furor over his supposed far-right political leanings.

By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)