Ruling party threatens to sue lawmaker over 'fake news' clip featuring first lady

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea threatened to sue opposition lawmaker Rep. Joo Jin-woo over his alleged violation of a fake news law that took effect last week.

The liberal party's warning was in response to Joo posting a video of first lady Kim Hea Kyung shaking her right hand immediately after shaking hands with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Saturday during President Lee Jae Myung's recent state visit to Mongolia.

On social media Monday, Joo claimed that Kim "showed disrespect" for the Mongolian leader.

Democratic Party Rep. Hwang Myeong-seon on Wednesday described Joo's claim as "sheer fake news." He added that the original clip showed the first lady grabbing and shaking her hand due to soreness after she tried to shoot a traditional bow during Mongolia's Naadam Festival on Saturday.

According to Hwang, Joo's post showed a fragmented part of the clip and failed to provide context, and therefore was misleading.

"The Democratic Party will take immediate legal action to correct Joo's inappropriate political moves," Hwang said.

Rep. Park Hae-cheol also said in his statement that the clip on Joo's social media post was edited with "malicious intent" to defame Kim.

Joo responded on Wednesday, arguing the Democratic Party was suppressing freedom of speech through the recent fake news legislation, namely the revision to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, effective since last week.

"Are you threatening the public and demanding that we should only play videos praising Lee Jae Myung? It is my freedom of expression to decide for myself which parts of the video to share," read Joo's post Wednesday.

Joo added he would file a petition with the Constitutional Court, claiming that the fake news law was unconstitutional.