Geum Tae-seop Criticizes Ruling Party Over Lawsuit Against Jin Joong-kwon: "Politicians Filing Lawsuits Are Not Progressive"

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Geum Tae-seop Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Former Democratic Party lawmaker Geum Tae-seop criticized Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min and his colleagues, who filed a civil lawsuit against former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon, saying, "Politicians who respond to critics with lawsuits cannot be considered progressive."

On the 8th, Geum posted on his Facebook, "Elected officials and high-ranking bureaucrats must be infinitely humble to the criticism of the people. The same goes for ridicule or sarcasm," adding, "These are things I have said countless times, but since there are still people making arguments close to sophistry, I will write a few simple rebuttals."

Regarding the background of the lawsuit against former professor Jin, in response to ruling party lawmakers' claims that he is a person with strong influence, Geum said, "I don't quite understand what it means that Professor Jin Joong-kwon is not an 'ordinary citizen' but a speaker with great influence, so it's okay to sue him. Anyway, to rebut, the most frequently used weapon to suppress freedom of expression and the right to criticize is the 'strategic lawsuit against public participation' (SLAPP)," adding, "It aims to silence others by targeting one 'noisy person' with lawsuits."

He continued, "The claim that Jin Joong-kwon is not an 'ordinary citizen' was really funny. So, does that mean he is a special citizen?" and criticized again, "The terminology lawyers use is really something."

He added, "I want to live in a country where I can call former President Lee Myung-bak 'Jwibak-i' and former President Park Geun-hye 'Dakgeun-hye' without worrying about lawsuits," and "It's the same for calling President Moon 'Munjaang.' Apparently, some don't know, but that is a democratic country."

He also said, "When you are sued in a civil case, you have to hire a lawyer or write a response yourself and attend the trial," adding, "Because of this burden, everyone ends up shutting their mouths. This is exactly the chilling effect."

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