The ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Friday filed a complaint with the parliamentary ethics committee against an opposition lawmaker for openly calling a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker "trash."
Rep. Park Young-soon of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) hurled the insult toward Rep. Tae Young-ho of the PPP during a parliamentary interpellation earlier this week after Tae accused DP lawmakers of remaining silent about the North's human rights issue.
"Stringent disciplinary action is necessary for the unimaginably defamatory and insulting remarks," Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, a floor spokesman for the PPP, told reporters.
Following the controversy, Tae made a brief visit to the site where DP leader, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, has been on an indefinite hunger strike against President Yoon Suk Yeol's government.
Tae called for an apology and demanded the resignation of Park, saying that in North Korea, the term "trash" refers to someone who should be expelled from society.
Source: Yonhap News Agency