"Democratic Party Accused of Coercion and Intimidation
to Appoint Ma Eunhyuk"
The People Power Party has decided to file charges against Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, for allegedly coercing Choi Sang-mok, the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, to appoint Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court judge.
On the 21st, Joo Jin-woo, the chairman of the People Power Party's legal advisory committee, stated, "We will file charges of coercion against Lee, who planned the accusation against Acting Prime Minister Choi, and Democratic Party lawmaker Park Gyun-taek."
On the same day, the Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) against Acting Prime Minister Choi, accusing him of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Economic Crimes. They claim that Choi, who served as the Blue House's economic and financial secretary in 2015 during the Park Geun-hye?Choi Soon-sil scandal, was actively involved in crimes related to the establishment of the Mir Foundation.
In response, Representative Joo pointed out, "The accusation that Acting Prime Minister Choi was involved in the Mir Foundation establishment crime 10 years ago is a baseless charge, and the investigation into this case has already been concluded."
He added, "The public knows that the Democratic Party's belated accusation is a form of intimidation," and explained, "They are attempting to manipulate the impeachment trial results of President Yoon Seok-yeol by threatening and coercing the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court judge."
Representative Joo criticized, "The Democratic Party's desperate accusation is evidence that the impeachment trial is heading toward dismissal or rejection," and said, "The match is over, but trying to overturn the results by inserting a biased judgment is match-fixing."
The People Power Party's legal advisory committee plans to file charges of coercion and other offenses against Lee Jae-myung for his remarks to Acting Prime Minister Choi, warning him to "be careful" while mentioning the possibility of arrest in flagrante delicto, as previously announced by the party leadership.
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