Messages of "Comrades in Political Reform" Sent to Democratic and Progressive Parties
Official Apology Demanded for Criticism from Some Democratic Party Spokespersons
The Innovation Party of the Nation delivered a set of apples to the People Power Party as a return gift for welcoming the inauguration of Representative Cho Kuk, along with a message that read, "Apology for rebellion, break with far-right! We expect courage." On December 9, the Innovation Party of the Nation announced in a press release, "As a token of gratitude for the hospitality shown to Representative Cho during his visits to each party, we delivered return gifts to the Democratic Party, People Power Party, Progressive Party, Basic Income Party, and Social Democratic Party."
The Innovation Party of the Nation, led by representative Jo Guk, presented appreciation gifts to each political party for the inauguration ceremony. However, only the People Power Party received apples instead of rice cakes. Innovation Party of the Nation
The Innovation Party of the Nation explained that the apple set sent to the People Power Party, accompanied by the message "Apology for rebellion, break with far-right! We expect courage," was intended to demand an apology for responsibility regarding the rebellion incident and to urge a separation from far-right politics. For other parties, such as the Democratic Party and the Progressive Party, the party delivered rice cakes with messages like "Comrades for the success of the Lee Jaemyung administration" and "Comrades in political reform." The Innovation Party of the Nation stated, "This is an unprecedented move, intended to establish a culture of cooperative politics among parties," and added, "We will continue to actively communicate and cooperate to foster a culture of respect and responsible politics among parties."
However, separate from the gifts, the Innovation Party of the Nation also demanded an official apology in response to what they described as excessive criticism from the Democratic Party's spokespersons toward Representative Cho. On this day, Park Chankyu, Deputy Spokesperson of the Innovation Party of the Nation, held a press conference at the National Assembly's Communication Center in Yeouido, Seoul, and pointed out, "The harsh voices within the Democratic Party regarding Representative Cho's remarks about the unconstitutionality of the special court for rebellion have gone too far."
Previously, at the highest council meeting held at the National Assembly the previous morning, Representative Cho expressed concerns about the bill promoted by the Democratic Party to establish a special court for rebellion, stating, "The current bill regarding the formation of a special court for rebellion clearly has constitutional issues," and, "If a request for a constitutional review is made, there is a high possibility that Yoon Suk Yeol and others involved in the rebellion could be released." Since political parties (members of the National Assembly) are not the entities entitled to request a constitutional review, his remarks were intended to urge a thorough review of the bill to eliminate any potential constitutional issues before such a situation arises.
Cho Kuk, leader of the Innovation Party, pointed out at the highest-level meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 8th that the bill related to the establishment of a special court for insurrection, which the Democratic Party is promoting, has the potential to be unconstitutional. Photo by Yonhap News
The Innovation Party of the Nation emphasized that some Democratic Party spokespersons criticized Representative Cho without basis during a broadcast. Deputy Spokesperson Park pointed out, "Spokesperson A and Deputy Spokesperson B of the Democratic Party appeared on a YouTube broadcast the previous day and made baseless accusations, such as 'Representative Cho is attempting to differentiate himself with the special court for rebellion bill due to his lack of presence after his pardon,' and 'He is following the path of the Justice Party.'" Regarding the personal attacks directed at Representative Cho, he said, "They even went so far as to make personal attacks related to Representative Cho's lecture evaluations, which have nothing to do with this issue, during the broadcast," and criticized, "Such remarks are extremely rude toward a fellow representative who ran in the presidential election together."
Deputy Spokesperson Park questioned, "While it would never happen, if the Innovation Party of the Nation were to launch personal attacks or ridicule the Democratic Party based on personal matters rather than the policies of President Lee Jaemyung and Democratic Party Leader Jung Chungrae, would the Democratic Party have accepted it so easily?" He continued, "We request an official apology from Spokesperson A and Deputy Spokesperson B for their remarks on the YouTube broadcast the previous day," and added, "If such incidents recur in the future, the Innovation Party of the Nation will officially protest to the Democratic Party leadership."
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