Democratic Party: "Retaliatory Investigation Mobilizing All Power Agencies... Approval Ratings Will Plummet If Government Continues Like This"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The Democratic Party of Korea has labeled the National Intelligence Service’s indictment of former directors Park Ji-won and Seo Hoon as a ‘retaliatory investigation.’

Woo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party’s Emergency Response Committee Chairman, stated at a public meeting of the Political Retaliation Investigation Countermeasures Committee held at the National Assembly on the 11th, "An all-out political retaliation mobilizing all power institutions is becoming blatant," adding, "As soon as the administration took office, it launched indiscriminate investigations into the previous government and presidential election rivals, and now even the National Intelligence Service is being used for retaliatory investigations."

Chairman Woo pointed out, "Public sentiment is volatile due to personnel disasters and the collapse of the people’s economy," and noted, "Voices expressing concern about a lame-duck phenomenon have emerged within just two months of inauguration." He continued, "This administration is not reflecting on its national policy direction nor bringing about any change; instead, it continues to succumb to the temptation of retaliatory investigations," emphasizing, "I firmly state that if this policy direction continues, the administration’s approval ratings will keep falling."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae rebutted media reports claiming that North Korean fishermen wrote handwritten letters of intent to defect, saying, "This is not a newly revealed fact," and that it had been discussed in the National Assembly. Legally, he argued, "It is clear that protection decisions may not be made for non-political criminals such as murderers."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hoe-jae criticized the Presidential Office for referring to the matter as a serious national crime, stating, "They even provided guidelines," and introduced, "From the indictment to the start of the investigation, not a single fact-checking word was given to former Director Park." He added, "Proper procedures were not followed, and basic respect for the former National Intelligence Service director was not observed."

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