Jeon Ju-hye "Biased Judge, Biased Decision"
Cheon Ha-ram "Must Respect Constitutional Court... Kim Ki-hyun's Attitude Inappropriate"
Park Beom-gye, Kim Yong-min "Considering Impeachment of Han Dong-hoon"
The Constitutional Court's ruling on the 23rd that the 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights Law (Geomsu Wanbak Law)' is valid has led to a sharp confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties. The ruling party raised their voices, saying, "The Constitutional Court justices made a political decision," while the opposition party argued, "We should consider impeaching Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon." Meanwhile, there are also voices within the ruling party that the Constitutional Court's judgment should be acknowledged.
On the 24th, Jeon Ju-hye, a member of the People Power Party, said on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' that it was "a biased decision by biased justices" and emphasized that "the neutral composition of the Constitutional Court is extremely important." Jeon is also one of the petitioners who filed the constitutional dispute trial regarding the Geomsu Wanbak Law.
On the 23rd, the day of the Constitutional Court's ruling on the authority dispute trial regarding the complete removal of the prosecution's investigative rights (Geomsu Wanbak) bill, Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok and the Constitutional Court justices are entering the grand courtroom at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
He pointed out, "The institution that can currently put the brakes on acts that infringe on parliamentary democracy is ultimately the Constitutional Court's constitutional dispute trial system," adding, "Despite having such authority, the Constitutional Court ultimately sided with the Democratic Party, effectively maintaining the practice of ignoring procedures."
Chae Young-ho, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, also said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' that "it was more of a political decision than a Constitutional Court decision," criticizing it as "a decision that undermined the public's trust in the judicial system." He said, "It is acknowledged that the rights to deliberation and voting were infringed, but the law is valid?what on earth does that mean?" and added, "No matter how good a law is, if there are various problems in the process of making that law, we should question the law itself."
Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, also criticized the Constitutional Court's judgment the day before, saying, "It's a bizarre logic like drinking and driving but not being considered drunk driving," and remarked, "It seems more like a political court than the Constitutional Court."
However, there are also voices within the party that the Constitutional Court's judgment should be respected. Cheon Ha-ram, former chairman of the Suncheon-gap district party committee in Jeollanam-do and a member of the 'Lee Jun-seok faction' who ran for party leader in the last party convention, said on BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal,' "I respect the judgment made by the Constitutional Court as it is, and more importantly, the attitude of the government and ruling party in accepting that judgment," adding, "Leader Kim used expressions like 'It's a political court, not the Constitutional Court' yesterday, and I think such an attitude is very inappropriate."
The Democratic Party holds the position that Minister Han's impeachment should be considered. Park Beom-gye, a Democratic Party lawmaker, responded to a question from the host on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' about whether impeachment is actually being considered by saying, "That is going too far," but added, "Serious problems are currently occurring, so we need to consider that part (impeachment)."
On the same day, Kim Yong-min, also from the Democratic Party, posted on his social media, "A childish minister who throws tantrums everywhere because the sweet candy in his hand is taken away must be scolded. Impeachment is the answer," thus raising the issue of Minister Han's impeachment.
Minister Han also made a statement regarding the Constitutional Court's judgment the day before, saying, "It is difficult to agree with the conclusion that, although illegal, the Geomsu Wanbak Law is valid." In response, Park Ju-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker, criticized on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' saying, "It seems Minister Han hasn't read the Constitutional Court's decision," and added, "Minister Han is really frustrating." He emphasized Minister Han's responsibility by saying, "Even though the Constitutional Court has already ruled four times that the prosecutor's investigation rights are not constitutional matters but legislative matters, he still forcibly filed a constitutional dispute trial."
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