By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

Uri Party lawmaker Lee Mi-kyung Tuesday acknowledged her father had served in the Japanese military during the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule.

In a recent interview with weekly magazine Dong-A, the governing party’s supreme council member said, ``I heard from a couple of elderly acquaintances in my hometown that my father worked for the Japanese military for some period of time.’’

Lee, however, said she has no idea at the moment whether her late father, Lee Bong-kwon, was conscripted to the Japanese Army or voluntarily joined.

``What my father did exactly is yet to be confirmed,’’ the third-term legislator said, adding, ``I will make my stance clear on the controversy surrounding my father’s records after going through thorough fact-finding procedures.’’

The 54-year-old’s confession comes less than a week after the ruling party’s former chairman Shin Ki-nam stepped down after his late father was found to have actively worked for Japanese colonial rulers of Korea in the early part of the 20th century.

Long portrayed as a reform-driven civic activist-turned-lawmaker, Lee is serving as chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Culture and Tourism Committee.

A party source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lee’s father had long served as a teacher and customs officer after national liberation in 1945.

This latest confession by a member of the ruling party comes at a time when the party is pushing a soul-searching campaign, at the suggestion of President Roh Moo-hyun, to address the legacy of 35 years of Japanese colonialism in South Korean society.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr