On the 8th, the Democratic Party expelled a party member who created and distributed a digital composite targeting Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Eon-ju. The party also filed a complaint against the member in the name of the party Public Communication Committee.

Democratic Party chief spokesperson Kang Jun-hyun met with reporters after the Supreme Council meeting that day and said, “The party has recognized that composites and posts insulting to character related to Rep. Lee Eon-ju damaged her honor and character,” and, “We decided on emergency disciplinary action against the person who produced and distributed the composite(s).”

Emergency discipline is a procedure in which, for grave matters, the party omits review by the Ethics Tribunal and the Supreme Council decides on discipline immediately. The Supreme Council that day resolved to expel the party member who disseminated it.

After a digital composite spread online recently, Rep. Lee was traumatized and has been hospitalized for treatment since the 3rd. Earlier, the law firm Oreun Haneul, which represents her, stated, “The suspect produced and posted online content that, targeting Rep. Lee Eon-ju, combined the victim into pornographic images together with explicit sexual insults and obscene expressions that evoke sexual assault,” and, “We will thoroughly secure evidence and, without leniency, hold to the end civil and criminal liability not only for the poster in this case but also for anyone who creates, shares, reposts, or otherwise spreads the content.”

On the 3rd, the Democratic Party Women Committee issued a statement saying, “We regard this case as going beyond mere political expression to constitute serious misogynistic violence, and we express deep regret and anger,” and, “Abusing women as objects of mockery by exploiting their bodies and sexuality on the grounds of differing thoughts and perspectives is an act that undermines the values of human rights and equality our society has painstakingly built.”

At the Supreme Council on the 6th, Han Byung-do, acting party leader and floor leader, said, “The distribution of composite pornography and sexual insults perpetrated against Rep. Lee is a grave criminal act that annihilates human dignity,” and, “This is not freedom of political expression but unmistakable violence and character terror.”

Han had said, “We will root out the illegal actors and punish them sternly so that this never happens again,” and, “We hope the investigative authorities will, through immediate and strict investigation, bring not only the initial producer but also distributors and sharers before the judgment of the law.”