Tae Yong-ho, the former North Korean diplomat who now represents Seoul’s affluent Gangnam district in parliament, is at the center of controversy after claiming that DPRK founding leader Kim Il Sung was the instigator behind one of the most violent episodes in South Korean history.

During a campaign stop on Jeju Island, Tae said Kim played a leading role in the Jeju uprising in 1948, referring to a series of coordinated attacks by underground communist groups on the island that same year.