On April 20, the main opposition Minjoo Party threatened to probe into allegations that the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the Korean National Police Veterans Association bankrolled the Korea Parent Federation, which hired North Korean defectors as "part-time workers" on a daily basis to stage demonstrations against the victim of the Sewol ferry disaster.
As the main opposition Minjoo Party, which won a parliamentary majority in the April 13 parliamentary election, expresses its willingness to open investigations into the allegations, the FKI and the government feel embattled and under siege.
Minjoo Party spokesman Lee Jae-kyoung said: “Right-wing civic groups like the Korea Parent Federation have thus far hold various demonstrations to support the government’s plan for government-issued history textbooks and oppose the passage of special bills related to the Sewol ferry sinking. The allegations that those pro-government groups did not voluntarily hold demonstrations but hired North Korean defectors as part-time protestors are nothing but shocking.”
“To top it off, the FKI, a chaebol lobby group, and the Korean National Police Veterans Association allegedly provided those groups with financial resources. It is appalling.”
“The FKI is comprised of conglomerates that hold sway over the Korean economy. If the allegations turn out to be true, it constitutes political meddling. The FKI’s alleged political intervention hints that the endemic government-business collusion rears its ugly head.”
