[Insight & Opinion] Privatized Representative Power, Collapsing Representative Democracy

Allegations of First Lady Kim's Interference in State Affairs Escalate
Repeated Refusal of Special Investigation Draws Criticism for Power Privatization
Democratic Party Reduced to a Shield for Lee's Judicial Risks

The disputes surrounding judicial risks and the First Lady risks have dominated Korean politics over the past two to three years. Even as judicial procedures proceed and critical public opinion prevails, there is neither shame nor a sense of responsibility. The situation is increasingly dire. The news and debates revolve around the same topics. Even I, who cover the same field, am tired of it. It reminds me of sages who completely turned their backs on this despairing reality. I try to calmly think more fundamentally, but the increasingly absurd reality forces me to face it again.

President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was met with both concern and expectation, is heading beyond concern to the worst. The impact of the First Lady’s issues on state affairs is becoming increasingly serious. It is the president’s responsibility. Allegations of the First Lady’s interference in state affairs persist, and the presidential office’s repeated refusal of special investigations has led to criticism of power privatization. The Democratic Party is held hostage by the judicial risks of its leader Lee Jae-myung, as the faction concerned had feared. Although Lee called it a ‘waterless blank water gun,’ two trials with a combined sentence request of five years are awaiting verdicts in November. There are still trials involving serious judicial risks remaining. Gradually, Lee’s defenses increasingly appear futile.

Since entering the second month of his administration, the president has failed to recover public distrust in his governance. His approval ratings have continued to fall, hitting around 20% in Gallup polls after the general election. There is no sign of a turnaround. The conflict with the ruling party leader, the organizational base of the ruling power, is severe. While conflicts between the party and government have occasionally occurred toward the end of administrations, this is the first time such a situation has arisen mid-term. On top of this, the First Lady issue is worsening. The controversies, which cannot be simply blamed on opposition party attacks, keep emerging. Recently, suspicions of Kim Young-sun and Myung Tae-gyun’s interference in candidate nominations, Kim Dae-nam’s orchestration of attacks on Han Dong-hoon, and parachute preferential employment scandals have escalated to calls for fact-finding. The profiles of those involved, as much as the allegations, undermine trust in the administration. A news anchor on a cable news channel described their profiles and behaviors as ‘foolish third-rate swindlers.’ How did the public feel when First Lady Kim, accompanying the president on his Southeast Asia diplomatic tour on the 6th, greeted people from the stairs of the presidential plane?

With the opposition’s special investigation and impeachment offensives and repeated vetoes, cooperation with the legislature has disappeared; serious conflicts with the ruling party leader, the core support base, persist; and public trust, the ultimate support foundation, is at rock bottom. Except for being an elected president, there is no foundation for leadership. The approval rating in the 20% range, the lowest level, should be seen as a generous evaluation reflecting the public’s aversion to opposition leader Lee Jae-myung.

The Democratic Party leadership, which dominates the National Assembly, has become a defense and escort unit protecting Lee Jae-myung’s judicial responsibility. It resembles a cartel organization. Judicial risk shielding and counterattacks have recently replaced the functions of our legislature. The opposition’s special investigation and impeachment offensives also appear as countermeasures against judicial risks, creating grounds for the president’s requests for reconsideration. Immersed in naked power struggles, the National Assembly frequently engages in actions beyond legality in its operations. The requirement of at least 10 lawmakers to propose a petition is being applied even to impeachment petitions, which require a majority or one-third of lawmakers. Impeachment hearings are held even though impeachment has not been proposed.

The principle of ‘non bis in idem,’ which prohibits re-proposing a rejected bill in the same session, is also being distorted to suit their interests. The Chaesang-byeong special investigation law, discarded by reconsideration rejection this time, was a bill reintroduced in the same session with additional subsidiary content while retaining the core content rejected and discarded in the 22nd National Assembly.

A president who has lost democratic support and cannot even resolve the First Lady issue, and the Democratic Party, which controls the legislature and uses it as a tool to shield judicial risks?this is an abuse of state power. As representative power is privatized, Korea’s representative democracy is collapsing.

Kim Man-heum, Former Director of the National Assembly Legislative Research Office