Citizen Groups File Successive Complaints Against Leader Lee Hae-chan... "Professor Im Miri's Complaint Violates Right to Know"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A civic group has filed a complaint against Lee Hae-chan, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who had previously accused Professor Im Mi-ri of Korea University, on charges including 'infringement of the public's right to know.'

The civic group, the Committee for the People's Livelihood Measures, announced on the 16th, "We have filed a complaint with the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office against Lee for violating freedom of expression, infringing on the public's right to know, restricting choice, and obstructing business."

Earlier, the Democratic Party had filed a complaint with the prosecution against Professor Im and the editor of Kyunghyang Shinmun for allegedly violating the Public Official Election Act after Professor Im contributed a column titled 'Except for the Democratic Party' to Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 28th of last month. Facing fierce criticism both inside and outside the party that this was an act suppressing freedom of expression, the Democratic Party withdrew the complaint after one day.

Regarding this, the group stated, "The Democratic Party's complaint is an inappropriate act against public sentiment," and criticized, "The Democratic Party is a political party to which members of the National Assembly, who are special career civil servants, belong. It is natural to criticize public officials for inappropriate remarks or behavior, but attempting to block this with power is a mistake that goes against the flow of the times."

The Civic Group for Establishing the Rule of Law also held a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the same morning, stating, "The Democratic Party's act of accusing Professor Im is motivated by impure and unjust reasons, and there is a very high possibility that Professor Im's social value and evaluation will be infringed upon," and filed a complaint against Lee Hae-chan for defamation.

They said, "The ultimate purpose of accusing Professor Im can only be seen as an attempt to abolish freedom of expression and establish dictatorship through a reign of terror that implies criticizing the current administration could lead to imprisonment," and criticized, "Even though they should be deeply apologetic, they are making petty excuses such as 'Ahn Cheol-soo camp' and 'political motives,' and blaming others."

They urged, "We call on the investigative authorities to thoroughly investigate Lee Hae-chan and impose severe punishment to protect the basic rights and human rights of the people and to uphold democracy and the rule of law."

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