People Power Party Criticizes Public Discussion of 'Trial Suspension Bill'
Calls Move "Fundamentally Wrong"
On November 2, the People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party of Korea for officially moving forward with legislation to suspend trials of sitting presidents just three days after the first trial verdict in the Daejang-dong development corruption case. The party denounced the move as unconstitutional and called for the resumption of the president’s trial.
Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the National Assembly's audit countermeasure meeting held on the 24th. 2025.10.24 Photo by Kim Hyunmin
Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party, made these remarks to reporters at the National Assembly after a party budget policy council meeting on November 2. He was responding to the Democratic Party’s claims that the People Power Party and the courts are responsible for amending the law, as well as the Democratic Party’s public discussion of ways to advance the presidential trial suspension bill.
Song stated, “If the ruling party truly believes that trials against the president are automatically suspended under the Constitution, then creating a separate law contradicts that belief. It seems they are trying to shift responsibility because they are attempting to reintroduce a problematic measure.”
He further criticized, “The idea of suspending the trial based on the unconstitutional notion that there is a hierarchy among branches of power, and that elected officials are superior to appointed ones, is fundamentally wrong. The president’s trial should resume.”
On the same day, Park Soo-hyun, chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, held a press briefing and announced that the trial suspension bill would be called the ‘National Governance Stability Act’ or the ‘Constitution Article 84 Protection Act.’ This move signals the party’s intention to push for the trial suspension bill at the party level, arguing that the indictment of the president for breach of trust was proven to be fabricated in the first trial verdict involving private developers implicated in the Daejang-dong corruption allegations.
The People Power Party also criticized the ruling party’s initiative to abolish the crime of breach of trust. In a commentary, Kwak Gyu-taek, chief deputy spokesperson of the People Power Party, pointed out, “Is the Democratic Party admitting defeat in the president’s breach of trust trial, or are they openly declaring their intent to protect the president through political legislation?”
He continued, “The People Power Party has consistently advocated for reducing the ambiguity and excessive application of the breach of trust charge, but the Democratic Party’s true objective is to completely neutralize the president’s trial. We urge the Democratic Party to immediately stop their shameless attempt to revise the law in order to erase the president’s crimes.”
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