Min Hyung-bae: "'Fake Resignation' Frame Exaggerated... An Inevitable Situation"

Assemblyman Min Hyung-bae, CBS Radio Interview
"No Mention of Fake Party Resignation in Constitutional Court Decision"

Min Hyung-bae, a member of the National Assembly who recently rejoined the Democratic Party after leaving it during the process of passing the "Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights" (검수완박) bill, expressed his frustration over criticisms accusing him of a "fake resignation."

On the 28th, Min appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" and said, "The propaganda and agitation frame of 'fake resignation' is really excessively exaggerated," adding, "Nowhere in the Constitutional Court's decision document does it say that my actions were a fake resignation."

Min Hyung-bae, who rejoined the Democratic Party of Korea, is talking with Yoon Mi-hyang at the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Regarding criticisms that his resignation undermined parliamentary principles, he stated, "The sequence of events must be made clear," explaining that he resigned in preparation for the convening of the agenda coordination committee.

Previously, on April 22, 2022, the Democratic Party and the People Power Party agreed on a mediation plan to separate the prosecution's direct investigation rights and indictment rights, leaving only 'corruption and economic crimes' among the prosecution's existing six major crime categories (corruption, economy, public officials, elections, defense projects, large-scale disasters) under their investigative authority. However, the People Power Party's support base strongly opposed the mediation agreement, leading the party to decide to reconsider it. Min resigned on April 20, 2022, before the Democratic Party and the People Power Party reached the mediation agreement on the 검수완박 law.

He said, "At the time, I saw Kwon Seong-dong, then the floor leader of the People Power Party, agreeing to the deal, and I thought, 'Oh, there is a decent politician in the People Power Party.' But that was overturned within a day or after the weekend. It was broken," adding, "From then on, the People Power Party's frame, that is, the agitation frame, began. The core keyword of that agitation frame was 'fake resignation.'"

Min Hyung-bae, a lawmaker who rejoined the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Min said, "At that time, a prosecutor dictatorship was anticipated, and the core issue was investigative rights. So there was a political agreement to separate the prosecution's investigative rights. But since the People Power Party broke that agreement, an emergency situation arose that required the agenda coordination committee," adding, "And that agenda coordination committee was not initially requested by the Democratic Party. It was requested by the People Power Party while I was an independent."

He continued, "Clearly, at that time, the agenda coordination committee had not been established, and I was preparing for it," saying, "I stated in my posting that I might resign because there could be an urgent emergency situation where it might be useful. It was a political act."

He added, "What is important here is the political meaning of the action we intended to take and what it was aimed at," giving an example: "For instance, if a child is about to be in a traffic accident and the light is red, should I ignore the red light and save the child, or should I wait until the light turns green and just watch the child get hurt?"

Regarding Democratic Party members who publicly criticized his rejoining the party, he said, "Lee Won-wook and Lee Sang-man were all supporters of the agreement at the time," adding, "But the agreement was broken. However, they never criticized the side that broke it, asking why they undermined politics and forced the process like the agenda coordination committee, which should not have been taken. Their identity is questionable."