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Independent lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)

In a position statement issued Tuesday, National Assembly member Yoon Mee-hyang accused South Korea’s conservative media and the People Power Party (PPP) of “inflicting new wounds on the victims of the Kanto massacres with their ideological baiting.”

The independent lawmaker has recently found herself embroiled in controversy after attending a ceremony in remembrance of Koreans killed in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. One of the co-organizers listed for the event was the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, a group known for its sympathies with North Korea.

Yoon stressed that Chongryon was just one of over 100 participating groups.

“Most of the victim memorial activities for the centennial of the Kanto massacres in Japan were organized by the ‘executive committee for the commemoration of Kanto massacre victims,’” she explained in her statement on Tuesday, adding that the members of the committee “encompass over 100 organizations that include Japanese groups in various areas and even Chinese groups.”

“Obviously, Chongryon was included among them,” she said.

She went on to explain that Chongryon had “taken part in most other events besides the ‘1:30 pm on Sept. 1’ event that the conservative media are focusing on attacking right now.”

“That is Japanese civil society. Wherever you go in Japanese civil society, you will find Chongryon,” she said.

Yoon also commented on the Ministry of Unification considering whether to impose a penalty for violation of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act over her failure to report related details to the government before taking part in the event.

“Not only did the commemoration schedule not meet the conditions for mandatory prior contact [reporting] as prescribed by law, but there were no acts of contact after the fact either,” she said.

“According to the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, ‘contact’ with North Korean residents refers to acts of exchange and cooperation with North Korean residents and the direct or indirect exchange of related information or messages with them,” she explained.

“I had no intention or plan of meeting with Chongryon officials in Japan during this event, nor did I have any reason to be in contact with them,” she said, adding that the matter was “therefore not subject to contact reporting.”

“Since I only attended the event at 1:30 on Sept. 1 to present flowers and did not engage in any ‘contact’ — i.e., the exchanging of information or messages with Chongryon figures — there was no violation of the current law,” she continued.

Independent lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang is seen here (front, center) attending a memorial ceremony in Tokyo’s Yokoamicho Park on Sept. 1, the centenary of the massacre of Koreans in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake. (Kim So-youn/The Hankyoreh)

Yoon characterized the administration and ruling PPP’s recent attacks as “red-baiting.”

“Since this year was the centennial [of the massacres], there were even more people gathering and commemorating the victims across different ideological boundaries in [Tokyo’s] Yokoamicho [Park],” she said.

“Japanese civil society views the current situation with the South Korean conservative media and People Power Party’s red-baiting divisiveness over the Kanto massacres as something like a comedy,” she added.

“Japanese civil society prepared a large-scale commemoration event in response to a genocidal crime committed against Koreans 100 years ago, and many people worked together in the process, transcending differences of region, generation and philosophy,” she observed.

“South Korea’s conservative media and the PPP are the only ones inflicting new wounds on the victims of the Kanto massacres with their ideological baiting,” she said.

PPP floor leader Yun Jae-ok responded to Yoon’s remarks while meeting with reporters at the National Assembly the same day.

“How many South Koreans are going to agree that this is an example of ‘red-baiting’?” he asked.

“It’s problematic in itself to have to watch a member of the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly denouncing our government while attending an event in which an anti-state group like Chongryon is involved,” he said.

He went on to describe Yoon’s claims of “red-baiting” as being “profoundly wrong-headed.”

By Lim Jae-woo, staff reporter

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