Lee In-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on the 22nd, calling the Yoon Seok-yeol administration a "'mouth-shutting' regime." Prime Minister Han responded by saying, "The measures were taken according to security regulations," and expressed difficulty in agreeing with Lee's criticism.
During the government questioning session held at the National Assembly on the 22nd, Lee criticized Prime Minister Han, saying, "The government is shutting the mouths of lawmakers who call for a change in national policy direction, KAIST graduates raising issues about R&D (Research and Development) budgets, and doctors discussing medical school quotas one after another." He added, "This dictatorship moves from domination and exclusion to repression, and I hope this 'blind mouth-shutting' is not the initial stage of repression following domination and exclusion."
In response, Prime Minister Han rebutted, "The two previous cases were appropriate measures taken according to the national head of state security regulations." He also drew a line by saying, "If the law is insufficient, I believe it can be sufficiently discussed and amended in the National Assembly."
Lee said, "Minimizing sanctions is what can be called a free democratic legal order," and pointed out, "Rather than unconditional mouth-shutting, laws and regulations related to presidential security should be reviewed and amended." When he asked if Han agreed with the evaluation that the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is heading toward dictatorship, Han replied, "I do not agree."
Prime Minister Han said, "I find it difficult to agree with the criticism that doctors' mouths are being shut," adding, "We have held more than 130 discussions with doctors and met with the Korean Medical Association more than 28 times to promote the issue of medical school quotas."
Lee pointed out, "Out of 4,318 administrative legislations, 194 were reviewed by the Legislative Office, and among them, illegality was pointed out in 100 cases," adding, "The highlight of illegality is the attempt to expand power institutions such as the application of prosecutorial investigation rights, the role of the National Intelligence Service, and the establishment of the Prosecutor's Office through amendments to enforcement ordinances."
Regarding Lee's question about whether the government would investigate the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation allegations related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee, Prime Minister Han briefly replied, "I believe all matters will be handled according to laws and related regulations."
Song Gap-seok, a Democratic Party member, pointed out, "It is very unusual to notify the cancellation of President Yoon Seok-yeol's state visit to Germany just one week in advance," adding, "Saying it was due to livelihood issues rather than a natural disaster is not convincing to the counterpart country or our citizens."
Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, quoted Prime Minister Han's statement that "As the population ages, medical demand is increasing, so expanding medical school quotas is a timely task," to which Han responded, "Since these are university quotas, I am not sure if the medical community outside has veto power," adding, "There are 40 medical schools nationwide, and the increase is about 50 students per school. I am confident that this can be sufficiently managed."
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