"Request to Speaker Woo: Adjust the Plenary Session Schedule on the 21st"
Party Moves to Emergency Standby at Headquarters Amid Special Prosecutor's Search and Seizure Threat
Song Eonseok, Chairman of the Emergency Response Committee and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, has decided to move his office to the party headquarters and remain on emergency overnight standby as a precaution against a possible search and seizure by the special prosecutor at the central party office on August 18.
After concluding a closed-door members' meeting at the National Assembly on this day, Chairman Song told reporters, "From this moment on, as the Emergency Response Committee Chairman, I will relocate my office to the party headquarters and remain on emergency overnight standby."
People Power Party's Song Eonseok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman and Floor Leader, is attending a members' meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 18th, and is conversing with Kim Jeongjae, Policy Committee Chairman. Photo by Yonhap News
He added, "The lawmakers have also resolved to form appropriate teams to guard the party headquarters until the final day of the search and seizure warrant." He continued, "Special Prosecutor Min Junggi is attempting a search and seizure at the party headquarters and, in an unprecedented move, is seeking to confiscate the party membership list. We have gathered our resolve to protect the membership list and personal information until the end."
Earlier on the same day, Special Prosecutor Min Junggi's team sent investigators and a forensic team to the People Power Party Secretary-General's office at the main building of the National Assembly, presented a search and seizure warrant, and once again requested cooperation for cross-checking the party's membership list with the list of Unification Church members.
The People Power Party has asked National Assembly Speaker Woo Wonshik to adjust the date of the plenary session scheduled for August 21. Chairman Song explained, "Despite having long known that the party convention is scheduled, they are insisting on holding the plenary session on the 21st to pass contentious and unagreed bills such as the Yellow Envelope Act, the tougher Commercial Act, the EBS Act, and the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation Act. Lawmakers have criticized whether there is an intention to completely sabotage the party convention."
The People Power Party plans to visit the Speaker's office to protest on the morning of August 19. Park Sunghoon, Chief Spokesperson of the People Power Party, said regarding the schedule for visiting the Speaker's office, "Since a search and seizure could take place at the party headquarters, we will do it in the morning."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
