Jin Joong-kwon "What Do Lee Nak-yeon and Lee Jae-myung Think About the Law for Forced Mobile Phone Unlocking?"

"Anti-Liberal Behavior in Regimes Claiming Liberalism"
"Key Point: Vetting Presidential Candidates"

Jin Joong-kwon, former professor at Dongyang University / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon strongly criticized Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's directive to consider enacting a 'law to forcibly unlock cellphone passwords,' saying, "Might as well legalize torture." He also questioned ruling party presidential candidates Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, and Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi Province, asking, "What is your stance?"

On the 12th, Jin wrote on his Facebook, "No matter how I think about it, the only legal way to extract cellphone passwords is that," expressing his opinion.

In another post, Jin expressed concern about "the distortion of the Democratic Party's identity," saying, "How should we understand this strange phenomenon where a regime that claims to be liberal shows anti-liberal behavior in everything it does?"

He continued, "What is absurd is that at that moment, Yoo Si-min brought up John Stuart Mill's 'On Liberty,'" pointing out, "The core of 'On Liberty' is to protect individual rights from arbitrary exercise of state power and to protect individual freedom from majority tyranny, but the Moon Jae-in administration is systematically destroying these through a series of bizarre legislations."

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is attending and responding at the plenary session of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held at the National Assembly on the 12th. / Photo by Yonhap News

He added, "They still seem to want to insist they are 'liberals,' but the 'Dae-kkemun' (a derogatory term for people who blindly support President Moon Jae-in) could never understand the book 'On Liberty.' If they had understood it, they wouldn't have become Dae-kkemun," criticizing them.

Regarding the law, Jin also asked ruling party presidential candidates Lee Nak-yeon and Lee Jae-myung, "I am curious about your views."

He said, "This is an important point in verifying presidential candidates."

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Ministry of Justice announced that Minister Choo instructed, "In cases like Han Dong-hoon (chief prosecutor), a suspect in the Channel A case, who maliciously hides cellphone passwords and obstructs investigations, refer to foreign legislations such as those in the UK to consider enacting a law that enforces compliance under court orders and imposes sanctions for non-compliance under certain conditions."

However, as this directive became known, some in the political sphere raised concerns that it might restrict human rights.

Geum Tae-seop, a former Democratic Party lawmaker who recently left the party, wrote on Facebook that day, "How is such a law different from a law that 'forces confessions and penalizes those who do not confess'?" He criticized, "Is it acceptable to trample on important principles painstakingly built over decades for human rights protection overnight?"

People Power Party lawmaker Jo Su-jin shared an article on Facebook about Governor Lee Jae-myung's refusal to provide his cellphone password to prosecutors in 2018, which made investigations related to the 'forced hospitalization of his elder brother' difficult, sarcastically criticizing, "Governor Lee Jae-myung is really lucky."

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