Opposition's Accusation of Sedition... People Power Party Retaliates with Legal Action Against Lee Jae-myung, Park Chan-dae, and Others

Accused of Defamation by Timely Reporting of False Facts
Shin Dong-wook "Reported for Criticizing the Democratic Party... Undermining Democracy"

On the 3rd, the People Power Party retaliated by filing a counter-complaint against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, and others for false accusation and defamation by spreading false information, after the Democratic Party reported 12 people including floor leader Kwon Seong-dong on charges of inciting rebellion.

On the 3rd, Joo Jin-woo, legal advisory committee member of the People Power Party, announced that they would file a complaint with the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Headquarters against Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, floor leader Park Chan-dae, Kim Min-seok, chairman of the Special Committee for Overcoming Rebellion and National Stability, and the Democratic Party’s False Fabrication Monitoring Team for false accusation and defamation by spreading false information.

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Earlier, the Democratic Party had filed a complaint with the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Headquarters the previous day against a total of 12 people, including eight politicians such as lawmakers Kwon Seong-dong, Na Kyung-won, Yoon Sang-hyun, Park Sang-ung, and Seoul city council member Park Jung-hwa, as well as YouTubers Bae Seung-hee, Go Seong-guk, Lee Bong-gyu, and Sung Chang-kyung, on charges of inciting rebellion. The reason was that acts such as defending President Yoon correspond to the crime of inciting rebellion under Article 90, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act.

The People Power Party’s legal advisory committee rebutted, saying, "Not only did the Democratic Party paralyze state affairs by overusing impeachment, but they are also trying to distort the function of the National Assembly by repeatedly filing baseless 'incitement of rebellion' complaints against ruling party lawmakers, so we intend to correct this through counter-complaints." They added, "The arrogance and unilateralism have gone too far, as they threaten that even ordinary citizens who leave comments could be reported for incitement of rebellion in the Judiciary Committee. Claiming the presumption of innocence only for leader Lee and repeatedly filing complaints to delay trials by all means is a typical case of double standards."

On the same day, Shin Dong-wook, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, said in a statement, "Lawmakers of the People Power Party, including floor leader Kwon, have never supported or promoted martial law itself," and added, "Filing complaints just because the Democratic Party criticized them for causing national division and confusion is a terror politics that punishes those who think differently and a gag on freedom of expression. Denying such freedom is an anti-constitutional idea that damages democracy."