Kwon Young-se "Yoon's Detention, an Act Losing Fairness... Lee Jae-myung Representative Dismissed" (Summary)

"Minority Ruling Party Has No Power to Act in the National Assembly"

Gwon Young-se, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, rebutted President Yoon Seok-yeol's detention as an "act lacking fairness."

On the morning of the 19th, immediately after an emergency meeting of the Emergency Response Committee, Chairman Gwon told reporters in response to the question, "Is your position that the issuance of the arrest warrant is also illegal?" "For example, in the case of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, the main opposition party, the arrest warrant was dismissed during the review because the right to defense needed to be guaranteed," he said.

He continued, "Regarding our president, they said there was a concern about evidence destruction without such considerations, but the basis was that he changed his phone, wasn't it?" He added, "They publicly explained and also explained the circumstances. That was before the martial law act."

He then emphasized, "The Central District Court is a normal response court, but excluding that and requesting the arrest warrant at the Western District Court by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is problematic," adding, "We are asking for fairness."

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He stated that the party is in a very difficult situation. Chairman Gwon said, "At the Emergency Response Committee meeting, we mainly talked about unfairness rather than illegality," adding, "Besides continuously urging punishment for Lee Jae-myung and others, the ruling party is currently a minority party with its number of seats hovering around one-third, so we have no power to do other things within the National Assembly right now."

Regarding Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, who reportedly sent reassuring text messages to supporters of President Yoon who were caught by the police after climbing over the wall of the Seoul Western District Court, saying "They will be released soon," he said, "There is nothing our party can do," and added, "I absolutely do not think this is an endorsement of violence or anything like that."

Earlier that day, the People Power Party urged restraint, stating, "The People Power Party firmly opposes all kinds of violence," in response to the violent incident by supporters opposing President Yoon Seok-yeol's detention at the Seoul Western District Court on the 19th.

Chairman Gwon held an emergency meeting of the Emergency Response Committee at the National Assembly that morning and said, "There were some rough protests by citizens during the arrest warrant review process yesterday and today," adding, "Such illegal violent acts do not help anyone."

Chairman Gwon said, "It is not for President Yoon either," and added, "In human history, violence begets retaliatory violence, and those violences lead to severe social chaos, eventually resulting in the emergence of extreme dictators like Hitler." He also said, "There must be no more physical clashes and violence," and "I earnestly ask the citizens to exercise restraint."

Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong also said, "It is difficult and painful, but even in the most difficult situations, we must exercise restraint without crossing the boundaries of legality," adding, "We must express our opinions within the legal framework to gain more public sympathy and achieve institutional improvements."

Floor Leader Kwon said, "Above all, hatred beyond this would be too heavy a burden even for President Yoon," and "No matter what happens, I strongly appeal that violence must not occur."

In particular, Floor Leader Kwon said, "It is a situation where the responsibility for yesterday's on-site violence cannot be unilaterally placed on the protesters," adding, "It is hard to accept that the police threw citizens around, kicked citizens' camera tripods, used barricades to strike down citizens trying to block violence with shields, and that many police officers without name tags appeared on the scene."

Floor Leader Kwon strongly requested Acting President Choi Sang-mok, saying, "I strongly urge you to promptly and thoroughly investigate the excessive and violent police response, which was not seen in other illegal rallies such as those by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions."