hankyoreh

Kang Sung-hee, a lawmaker with the minor Progressive Party, is dragged away by security guards after shaking hands with President Yoon Suk-yeol during an event celebrating the promotion of North Jeolla Province to “state” status on Jan. 18. (Yonhap)

Rep. Kang Sung-hee, a lawmaker with the minor progressive Jinbo Party, was dragged away by President Yoon Suk-yeol’s security detail with his mouth gagged and his limbs flailing after seizing Yoon’s hand and telling him to rethink his policies while at an event in Jeonju, North Jeolla, on Thursday.

The Jinbo Party called Kang’s treatment “a grave offense against our legislative branch.” 

But the presidential office countered that Kang’s behavior had “crossed the line for an assemblyman and a member of the establishment.”

Based on the explanations provided by the presidential office and the Jinbo Party and video footage of the event, Yoon arrived at the Sori Arts Center in Jeonju, where a ceremony celebrating North Jeolla’s new status as a special self-governing state was being held, at 11 am on Thursday and went around shaking hands with lawmakers from the region and other people in attendance.

As Kang, who represents Jeonju-B, shook hands with Yoon, he said, “You’ve got to change your approach to governance.” When Kang refused to let go of Yoon’s hand and tried to say more, several security agents forcibly removed his hand, allowing Yoon to move away. Then one of the security agents placed a hand over Kang’s mouth while multiple other agents carried him out of the hall with his arms and legs in the air.

That afternoon, Kang held a press conference at the North Jeolla Provincial Assembly.

“Is it really so wrong for an assemblyman who speaks for the people to convey the people’s desperation to the president?” Kang asked. “Nothing will change if the president closes his eyes and plugs his ears to what the people are saying and dealing with! Nothing will change if I’m dragged away and thrown to the ground!”

In a telephone call with the Hankyoreh afterward, Kang criticized the overzealous policing by the president’s security detail and insisted that he “hadn’t done anything to warrant being manhandled in such a way.”

According to Kang, there was no risk of him harming the president since strict controls are in place whenever the president is at an event and all attendees must pass through a security checkpoint complete with a metal detector.

“The security guards even took my glasses while they were dragging me out. The presidential office needs to make a respectful apology and reprimand those responsible in the Presidential Security Service,” he said.

“Was it really that annoying for the president to be told to ‘change his approach to governance’?” asked Lim O-kyeong, the floor spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party. Lim called for the director of the Presidential Security Service to be sacked.

But the presidential office responded that Kang had caused a “dangerous security situation.”

“Kang was shouting and wouldn’t let go of the president’s hand. He even yanked on the hand he was holding. The presidential security agents repeatedly warned Kang to let go of the president’s hand,” a senior official from the presidential office told reporters.

“Even after the president had walked past, Kang kept shouting and disrupting the event. That was obviously worth regarding as a dangerous security situation, so the security agents removed him from the event.”

The official answered a follow-up question about whether it had really been appropriate to cover the assemblyman’s mouth and carry him out of the hall with his hands and legs in the air.

“Even after Kang was separated from the president, he kept cupping his hands and shouting. Naturally, the security agents were forced to conclude that this could endanger the safety of both the president and everyone else in attendance, so they took steps to remove Kang from the scene,” the official explained.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter; Um Ji-won, staff reporter

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