Police have referred to prosecutors a pastor who spread false claims that the May 18 Democratization Movement was "a communist riot carried out under North Korean orders."
The Songpa Police Station in Seoul said on the 6th that it had referred person A, who spread such false claims, to prosecutors on the 31st of last month without detention on charges of violating the Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement.
A had earlier stated in a sermon video posted on his church's YouTube channel on May 3 this year that "if things continue this way, the structure is such that a constitutional amendment will inevitably pass through a rigged election alongside the June 3 local elections," adding that "then a communist system will begin in earnest." He went on to claim that "the main content of this constitutional amendment is to enshrine the spirit of 5·18 in the constitution, but the truth is that 5·18 was not a democratization movement but a communist riot carried out under North Korean orders."
Peace Tree Christian Recovery Center, a progressive Protestant organization, filed a complaint with police in early May, arguing that such a sermon constituted a violation of the 5·18 Special Act.
Under the 5·18 Special Act, distorting or disparaging the May 18 Democratization Movement with false claims is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won.
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