Kim Min-seok: "'Conscience-less Legal Technician' Kim Ki-hyun's Remarks Made Me Think He Was Talking About Han Dong-hoon"

"Claiming Rule of Law but Practicing Anti-Rule of Law, Typical Pseudo-Rule of Law"

Kim Min-seok, the newly appointed Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, requested on the 28th that the People Power Party clarify their stance on whether they will impeach the Constitutional Court justices. Chair Kim criticized the current government and ruling party, which advocate for the rule of law, as practicing "pseudo rule of law."

At the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Chair Kim said, "Kim Ki-hyun, the leader of the People Power Party, described the Constitutional Court as ‘law technicians who deceive the people with a three-inch tongue without conscience and are subject to impeachment.’ I would like to seriously ask whether there is truly an intention to impeach the Constitutional Court." He added, "Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon said in response to questions about his position, ‘I didn’t know impeachment was a term that could be used so lightly like a feather.’ I ask the ruling party to organize their stance and message."

Chair Kim also mentioned, "When Leader Kim said, ‘They are law technicians without conscience and subject to impeachment,’ I thought he was referring to Minister Han Dong-hoon, so I was actually a bit nervous." This indicates that the ruling party was momentarily mistaken and tense, thinking they were preemptively holding Minister Han responsible for the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

Kim Min-seok, Policy Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea (left), and Kim Sung-joo, Senior Deputy Policy Committee Chairman, are talking at the floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 28th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He said, "What the public is most concerned about is that the rule of law is being trampled upon in a prosecutorial government, composed of former prosecutors, who claim to uphold the rule of law," adding, "Those who advocate for the rule of law are actually acting against it, which can be seen as a typical case of pseudo rule of law."

Chair Kim stated, "The President disregards the Supreme Court ruling in diplomacy with Japan and has accepted as a fait accompli an unconstitutional response by directly meeting the Japanese Prime Minister and not responding to diplomatic provocations regarding Dokdo. Leader Kim has taken an anti-rule of law stance by attacking both the Constitutional Court’s ruling and the Court itself almost to the level of personal defamation. Minister Han brought incorrect information to the Constitutional Court and refused to accept its decision, specifically noting that the result was 5 to 4. This is deeply concerning as it disregards justice and law, which should be exemplified by the Minister of Justice in building a society where the law is alive, and instead sets a precedent for a society of law technicians who only talk without substance."