Rep. Kim Jin-tae of the ruling Saenuri Party on Friday berated the South Korean protestors who recently held a demonstration in Paris, France, to condemn the alleged wrongdoing by the authorities during 2012 presidential election.

“I will make the people who held demonstrations in Paris pay the price in full. I will have the Justice Ministry submit the photos (of the protest) as evidence to the Constitutional Court,” Kim wrote on his Facebook page. “Anyone whose ‘blood does not boil’ after seeing that picture is probably not a citizen of Korea.”

According to local news outlets, the protest was held by South Koreans living in France on Saturday and Sunday to coincide with President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the country. The participants of the rally held up placards which said “Park Geun-hye is not the legitimate president of South Korea” in both French and Korean.

The National Intelligence Service and other state bodies are suspected of meddling in last year’s election by posting online comments against then-opposition candidate Moon Jae-in.

Kim had claimed earlier that the demonstrators were members of South Korea’s Unified Progressive Party, which have been accused of pro-North Korea activities. The government on Tuesday petitioned to the Constitutional Court to dissolve the minor opposition party.

The lawmaker added that he did not actually see the protest. Kim’s remark on the demonstrators being UPP members has not been verified yet.



By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)