Police are investigating a pastor who claimed during a church service that the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement was “a riot directed by North Korea.”
According to police on July 8, the Seoul Songpa Police Station questioned the pastor, identified only by his surname A, on July 7 at a church in Seoul’s Songpa District.
The investigation follows a complaint filed in May by the Peace Tree Christian Restoration Center, a progressive Christian civic group, alleging that the pastor violated the Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement.
According to the complaint, the pastor said in a sermon uploaded to the church’s YouTube channel on May 3 that, “The main purpose of this constitutional amendment is to include the spirit of the May 18 movement in the Constitution, but the truth is that it was not a democratization movement—it was a communist riot carried out under orders from North Korea.”
Under the Special Act, which took effect in 2021, knowingly spreading false information about the May 18 Democratization Movement is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to approximately $33,300. The law applies not only to statements distributed through information and communications networks, such as broadcasts or online platforms, but also to claims made at public events, including debates, rallies and forums.