Hong Jun-pyo "If You're Afraid of Surveillance, You Shouldn't Be a Public Official" vs Shin Dong-geun "Beyond Sophistry, It's a Nonsense Remark"

Hong Jun-pyo "Is the conspiracy still effective?"
Shin Dong-geun "Reckless remarks ignoring the basics of a democratic republic"

Independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 24th, independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo and Shin Dong-geun, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, engaged in a heated debate over allegations of illegal surveillance by the National Intelligence Service during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations. When Hong said, "If there are so many wrongdoings that one fears surveillance, then one should not be a public official," Shin condemned this as "nonsense beyond absurdity" and demanded an apology.

On the same day, Hong posted on his Facebook, "I have been endlessly surveilled for over 40 years since my time as a prosecutor, yet I have no complaints," opening his remarks. "I was surveilled even during my time as a prosecutor, and even when we were in power, but I just accepted it as it was," he added.

He continued, "Public officials should live transparently like glass," and questioned, "I'm not defending surveillance, but if you live your public service transparently, what problem is there even if you are surveilled?"

He pointed out, "There was even a time when I publicly reprimanded members of our party who kept complaining about being surveilled during the Lee Myung-bak (MB) era," and asked, "What wrong did they do to be surveilled and then keep complaining about it?"

Hong also said, "It is truly bitter to see the old surveillance controversy being stirred up as a ploy to win the Busan mayoral election," and questioned, "Is it still an era where such schemes work?"

Shin Dong-geun, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

In response, Supreme Council Member Shin criticized Hong’s remarks as "reckless comments that disregard the fundamentals of a democratic republic."

On the same day, Shin explained on his Facebook, "For a community society to be stably maintained, the constitution and laws are necessary," adding, "Basic rights are specified to guarantee a person's dignity and human rights, and acts that are permitted or not permitted and punishable are defined to maintain the order of the state and society. A democratic republic is established and operated on this foundation."

He further stated, "Illegal surveillance is a vicious violence that mercilessly tramples on an individual's human rights, whether the target is a public official or not," and emphasized, "Violence that harms the soul rather than the body is inherently more violent."

He then described Hong’s remarks as "statements that only those with the perpetrator’s superior perspective and beliefs can make," and said, "It is nothing more and nothing less than a vile act of telling a person who was lynched without reason, 'You should have behaved properly,'" urging Hong to publicly apologize.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party announced on the same day that it would push for a special law to investigate the truth and dispose of materials related to the NIS illegal surveillance issue, demanding an investigation into Park Hyung-joon, then Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House.

Kim Tae-nyeon, the Democratic Party floor leader, pointed out at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, "The distribution points of the surveillance reports were the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs, and the Prime Minister’s Office," and criticized, "Park Hyung-joon, then Senior Secretary for Political Affairs, consistently feigned ignorance, claiming he neither saw, heard, nor knew about the surveillance reports, and responded with an arrogant attitude, calling it an election manipulation."

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