City councilor remains absent after his child identified as perpetrator of school violence

[Anchor]

The aftermath is intense as the child of a city councilor in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, has been identified as a perpetrator of school violence.

Protests from parents and citizens are ongoing, and it is escalating into conflicts within the city council.

Kim Min-ah reports.

[Report]

Condolence wreaths have been lined up around the council building.

Earlier this year, a city councilor's child was identified as a perpetrator in a school violence incident at an elementary school in Seongnam, prompting outraged parents and citizens to take collective action.

This protest involving the sending of condolence wreaths is the second, following one in front of the elementary school last week.

The city councilor at the center of the controversy has continued to be absent from official session schedules and has not shown up.

The school violence issue is escalating into a conflict between the two parties in the council.

The Democratic Party of Seongnam City Council has demanded disciplinary action against the councilor and submitted a motion of no confidence against the chairperson for unilaterally disallowing a five-minute speech by a council member mentioning school violence.

During the second plenary session of the temporary meeting, there were heated exchanges among council members even before it began.

[Democratic Party Members Council of Seongnam City Council: "Councilor Lee Young-kyung, who is evading responsibility for her child's school violence, should resign! (Resign! Resign! Resign!)"]

[Lee Duk-soo/Chairperson of Seongnam City Council: "You cannot disrupt the plenary session like this while failing to adhere to the meeting rules you set for yourselves... I order all Democratic Party members to leave."]

With all Democratic Party members leaving, the council has faced repeated disruptions.

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education has initiated an audit process to determine whether the punishment for the perpetrator and the school's response to the incident were appropriate.

This is KBS News, Kim Min-ah.