Rep. Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party requests a procedural remark during a plenary session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly on March 18. [Yonhap News]

The People Power Party criticized the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission's announcement that there were problems in the past handling of the so-called "emergency helicopter transport privilege controversy" that arose when Lee Jae-myung was the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stating, "A state agency has voluntarily become a 'memory laundry' to erase the President's past blemishes ahead of the local elections."

In a statement released that day, Chief Spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said, "The outcome presented by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission under the grand name of the 'Normalization Promotion TF' was ultimately nothing more than 'regime-tailored past washing'."

He asked, "Back then, President Lee Jae-myung, instead of going to Pusan National University Hospital, which has the nation's top-tier regional trauma center, called an emergency helicopter like a 'taxi' and headed to Seoul. Is granting absolution for actions that undermined regional medical trust and shook the foundation of the medical referral system truly normalization as the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission claims?"

He added, "The act of forcibly dragging in matters related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee and excessively referring cases for investigation is ultimately just a 'childish diversion' and a 'campaign-driven political attack' to dilute criticism of the 'helicopter privilege' controversy."

Previously, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced that through the activities of the Normalization Promotion Task Force (TF), its judgment in 2004 that the medical staff violated the code of conduct regarding the "emergency helicopter transport privilege controversy" was inappropriate, and that there was improper intervention by the then-secretary-general in the process.

President Lee, linking an article related to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission's announcement on X (formerly Twitter) that day, said, "Through fabricated indictments by the prosecution, judicial murder; through mobilized terrorists, murder with a weapon; through mobilized manipulated media, defamation murder. The people, heaven itself, saved me from these three grave threats of murder."

In response, Rep. Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party said in a Facebook post, "It is absurd sophistry." She stated, "Under the guise of normalization of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the commission was manipulated to suit his taste, granting absolution for his 'helicopter privilege transport.' Now, he is even framing legitimate legal judgment as 'judicial murder' and is pathologically fixated on the withdrawal of the prosecution."

She added, "President Lee should stop his self-laundering of crimes and self-deification, and stand trial for his suspended case."