Saebosu Party: "Im Miri's Prosecution, an Unprecedented Incident Since Democratization... Lee Hae-chan Should Retire from Politics"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Regarding the Democratic Party of Korea's accusation of Professor Im Miri of Korea University for violating the Public Official Election Act due to her column criticizing the administration, the New Conservative Party strongly criticized the party, mentioning Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan's retirement from politics.

On the 14th, Ha Tae-kyung, co-representative of the New Conservative Party, pointed out at the party leaders' meeting held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, "Since the democratization in 1987, this is the first time that a column urging not to vote for a specific party has been reported for violating the election law," calling it "an unprecedented event in party history."

He added, "No conservative party has ever threatened to report a column urging not to vote for their own party. This is because the essence of the Democratic Party is not the Democratic Party but the Moonjoo Party," and said, "Democracy is applied only to pro-Moon Jae-in factions, while dictatorship is imposed on non-pro-Moon factions. As a generation that participated in the democratization movement together, this is shameful."

He also strongly criticized Leader Lee, saying, "He should apologize to the democratic spirits who sacrificed their lives in the democratization struggle since the founding of the Republic of Korea," and "He should retire from politics."

Kim Woong, chairman of the Special Committee for Establishing the Rule of Law, also said, "It is regrettable that the ruling party seems to lack understanding of the Public Official Election Act," and explained, "Article 58 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that simple expressions of opinion about elections are not considered election campaigning, and expressing one's thoughts on the policies or platforms of a specific party is considered an expression of opinion."

He continued, "Considering this column as encouraging voting is an excessive infringement on the people's freedom," and criticized, "If you cannot even express this much, what kind of democracy is it? If this is a violation of the Public Official Election Act, then are the people shouting 'Save us' in front of the president also violating it?"

He said, "Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae said she would separate the prosecution's investigative and prosecutorial powers, but the ruling party actually reported to the prosecution," and added, "Did you reform the prosecution to suppress the people's expression of opinion like this? Apologize to Professor Im instead of becoming the 'Indigestible Democratic Party' that makes the people feel uneasy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.