Cho Kuk Sends Handwritten Letter to Hwang Hyunseon
"People Power Party, Now the Enemy of the People, Must Be Dissolved or Go Bankrupt"
"Must Be Held Accountable for Producing Leader of Insurrection and Defending Illegal Acts"
Former Innovation Party leader Cho Kuk asserted in a letter from prison that "the People Power Party, which has become the enemy of the people, must be dissolved or go bankrupt." In a handwritten letter sent on July 20 to Hwang Hyunseon, Secretary-General of the Innovation Party, Cho stated, "A political party that destroys and tramples on the Constitution, and that defends, protects, sympathizes with, or aids illegality, has no right to exist in a democratic, law-governed nation."
Cho further stated, "The outcome of the ongoing insurrection trial will make this even clearer, but even before that, the Ministry of Justice must thoroughly investigate and review whether the People Power Party qualifies as an unconstitutional party." He continued, "At the very time when the vote to lift martial law was taking place, the People Power Party's parliamentary leadership instructed its members to gather at party headquarters, not at the National Assembly. When investigative agencies attempted to arrest Yoon Sukyeol, the leader of the insurrection, under a court-issued warrant, 45 party members gathered in front of the Hannam-dong official residence and obstructed the enforcement of the law."
He added, "People Power Party lawmakers insisted that the impeachment of Yoon Sukyeol was illegal and unjust, staging a sit-in in front of the Constitutional Court and repeatedly making false and slanderous statements about the Constitutional Court justices at events organized by far-right groups." He strongly criticized, "Through these actions, the true nature of the People Power Party has been fully exposed. They are 'old Ilbe' and are one and the same with the 'asphalt far-right.'"
He continued, "The anti-constitutional and anti-rule-of-law behavior of the People Power Party was not merely the independent actions of a few individual lawmakers, but was, at the party level, an act of defending and protecting martial law and insurrection." He added, "That is why none other than Hong Joonpyo, the former mayor of Daegu and a presidential contender from the People Power Party, went so far as to warn of the party's dissolution as an unconstitutional entity." He went on to say, "The recent actions of Yoon Sukyeol have provoked public irritation and anger. Those who praised Yoon Sukyeol as prosecutor general since 2019, defended the investigations he led, and even worked to make him president, must now feel a sense of shame."
Cho concluded, "Yoon Sukyeol's lies and cowardice are being revealed one after another. Now, the party that produced the leader of the insurrection and defended, protected, sympathized with, or aided his illegal acts must be held accountable. The People Power Party has long failed to serve the people, and now it is the enemy of the people. Such a party must be dissolved or go bankrupt."
Previously, Jeong Chungrae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea running for party leader, introduced a bill to amend the Constitutional Court Act to grant the National Assembly the right to request a ruling on the dissolution of a political party. Under current law, only the government can request the Constitutional Court to review the dissolution of a specific unconstitutional party; the proposed amendment would extend this right to the National Assembly as well.
During a televised debate on July 16, Jeong stated, "The amendment to the Constitutional Court Act that I proposed means that if the National Assembly passes a resolution, the matter should be reviewed by the Cabinet. When there is a high demand for a ruling on the dissolution of the People Power Party as an unconstitutional party, the National Assembly will reflect the will of the people by passing a resolution, and the Cabinet will then review it."
In response, Song Eonseok, interim leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, said on July 16, "The people will not tolerate attempts to turn the Republic of Korea into a one-party dictatorship." Lawmaker Joo Jinwoo also pointed out, "Changing the law to dissolve the opposition party is tantamount to confessing to the public that you are creating a dictatorship." Lawmaker Shin Dongwook stated, "If the fact that People Power Party lawmakers did not participate in the vote is grounds for dissolution, then is Kim Minseok, the Prime Minister who did not participate in the vote from the Democratic Party, also guilty of aiding insurrection?"
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