To Supreme Court Justice: "Hey You Bastards!"... Oh Byung-yoon Causes Disturbance After Losing Unified Progressive Party Lawmaker Seat

Former Unified Progressive Party members of the National Assembly Oh Byung-yoon (from the left), Kim Jae-yeon, and Kim Mi-hee are speaking after the verdict at the Supreme Court in Seocho-dong on the 29th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] On the 29th, the Supreme Court made a final ruling that the loss of parliamentary seats of five former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers, who lost their seats due to the Constitutional Court's decision to dissolve the unconstitutional party, was justified. In response, former lawmaker Oh Byung-yoon caused a disturbance with profanity, and other lawmakers also stated their intention to take measures such as seeking state compensation.

The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) announced that it dismissed the appeals in the lawsuit filed by former lawmakers Kim Mi-hee, Kim Jae-yeon, Oh Byung-yoon, Lee Sang-gyu, and Lee Seok-ki against the state to confirm their parliamentary status, thereby upholding the lower court's decision to strip them of their seats. This comes seven years after their seats were revoked in December 2014 and five years after the appellate court ruling.

The Supreme Court explained, "If lawmakers belonging to a party that was dissolved because its purpose or activities were judged to violate the democratic basic order were allowed to retain their positions, it would be equivalent to lawmakers following the ideology of the dissolved party continuing to participate in the political decision-making process of the people, resulting in the party effectively continuing to exist and operate."

It added, "To protect the democratic basic order, it is essential to remove lawmakers belonging to unconstitutional parties from the people's political decision-making process by stripping them of their positions. The Constitutional Court also recognized that the loss of parliamentary seats of lawmakers belonging to a party dissolved by a decision to dissolve an unconstitutional party is a fundamental effect inherent in the party dissolution adjudication system."

On the day of the court hearing, four former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers attended, except for Lee Seok-ki, who is currently serving a prison sentence. Former lawmaker Oh Byung-yoon, who was sitting in the gallery waiting for the verdict, became enraged when the Supreme Court announced the dismissal of the appeal, stood up, and shouted, "You bastards. Are you Supreme Court justices, you bastards?" Court security officers quickly rushed in and escorted Oh out of the courtroom.

After the verdict, Oh told reporters, "Can you believe this ruling?" He expressed frustration, saying, "We waited, hoping the Supreme Court would handle it, but today they just said 'appeal dismissed.' How can that be?" He added, "We wanted the Supreme Court to judge based on the law, but I don't know if this is really a court decision."

Former lawmaker Kim Mi-hee also criticized, saying, "The judicial manipulation documents created during former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae's tenure were accepted as is by Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo, and the justices made the same ruling. The fact that both the Constitutional Court and now the Supreme Court have made such rulings tramples on the people's right to elect lawmakers."

Former lawmaker Kim Jae-yeon said, "Today, Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo abandoned the rule of law. Even though it was confirmed that the authority to decide on the confirmation of a lawmaker's status does not lie with the Constitutional Court, they ultimately made a political ruling. Since it has been confirmed that the Constitutional Court made an unauthorized decision, we will take all measures, including seeking state compensation."