Hong Ik-pyo: "Yoon Seok-yeol's Remarks? Criticizing the United Future Party, Dismissal Is Inappropriate"

Hong Ik-pyo, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kang Juhee] Hong Ik-pyo, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated that the opinion within the ruling party calling for the submission of a dismissal motion against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is "not a valid impeachment ground and the dismissal motion is inappropriate."

On the 7th, Hong appeared on YTN Radio's 'Starting a New Morning' and said, "Looking at Prosecutor General Yoon's message, the claim that he attacked the president by calling him a dictator and totalitarian is factually incorrect and should not be interpreted that way."

Earlier, on the 3rd, at the new prosecutors' commissioning ceremony, Prosecutor General Yoon said, "We must always deeply engrave in our hearts the constitutional spirit of liberal democracy, fair competition, and protection of the socially vulnerable as embodied in criminal law. The core value of our constitution, liberal democracy, does not ignore equality and emphasize only freedom. It refers to true democracy that rejects dictatorship and totalitarianism disguised as democracy."

Regarding this statement, Hong argued, "Recently, laws like the Lease Protection Act aim to protect socially vulnerable tenants, but the United Future Party opposed it, emphasizing freedom over equality, which is a constitutional value," and interpreted, "If you look at Prosecutor General Yoon's context as is, he pointed out political forces like the United Future Party that neglect protection of the socially vulnerable or the value of equality as dictatorship and totalitarianism."

He added, "It seems no one has read the full text of Prosecutor General Yoon's message. Some media misreported it as an attack on the president, so our party also reacted," and said, "This is a situation where, rather than our party getting angry, the United Future Party should be the one to be upset."

Hong continued, "The position of Prosecutor General is one where political neutrality and independence are maintained, so it is inappropriate for the political sphere to keep summoning this position," and criticized, "Every word of Prosecutor General Yoon is politically interpreted; if he doesn't speak, he is criticized for not speaking, and if he does, his words are overinterpreted."

Regarding the dismissal of Prosecutor General Yoon, he said, "Impeachment or dismissal should be done only when there is a more definite and clear fault or wrongdoing," and emphasized, "The fundamental purpose of guaranteeing the Prosecutor General's term is to prevent the Prosecutor General from being swayed by any power and to ensure the political neutrality and investigative independence of the prosecution institution, so it should be in line with that purpose."

However, he noted, "Prosecutor General Yoon also bears some responsibility," and said, "When choosing certain words or language, one must consider how society will perceive them regardless of one's intention. In the relationship between the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General, the Minister of Justice holds supervisory authority, but by setting up a confrontational stance with the Minister of Justice, he has somewhat invited controversy over political neutrality."

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