Lee Jun-seok Submits Petition Comparing Yoon to 'New Military Regime'..."Absolute Power Leading the Situation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok strongly criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol, pointing to him as the "absolute ruler" who led the current crisis, in relation to the injunction request to suspend the effectiveness of the party's Emergency Response Committee (ERC).

According to the legal community on the 23rd, former leader Lee submitted a four-page handwritten petition to the Seoul Southern District Court Civil Division 51 (Chief Judge Hwang Jeong-su) on the 19th, arguing, "If the current situation is not corrected by the judiciary, the absolute ruler may actively exercise the emergency declaration authority attempted this time, similar to the new military regime that expanded martial law." He likened President Yoon to the new military regime (former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo) and appealed for the court to grant the injunction.

In the petition, former leader Lee stated, "Kim Ki-hyun and Joo Ho-young, former floor leaders who have taken excessive caution and immobility as their creed, are showing confidence that challenges the authority of the court regarding this injunction request," adding, "Even if the judiciary corrects the intra-party power struggle they led, I believe the absolute ruler has granted them immunity so as not to lose face."

Former leader Lee also revealed, "I was offered, by someone close to the absolute ruler, proposals such as stepping down from the party leadership, organizing disciplinary procedures by the Ethics Committee and police investigations, and mediation through a presidential special envoy," and said, "Mentioning the disciplinary or investigative procedures against me and suggesting the possibility of compromise was extremely humiliating and unfair, so I rejected it outright."

Regarding the emergency declaration authority of the Standing Committee that led to his dismissal as party leader, he criticized, "If the Standing National Committee holds the emergency declaration authority, there is a risk of abuse," and added, "The current emergency declaration is being used by the absolute ruler to oust the party leader, but conversely, the party leader could use it to consolidate their own power."

Finally, former leader Lee stated, "Creating a free ruling party that is not politically pressured by the president and the entrenched mainstream will be like hitting a rock with an egg," and added, "I hope the court will deliberate carefully from the perspective of establishing intra-party democracy."

Meanwhile, the result of the injunction request filed by former leader Lee to suspend the effectiveness of the Emergency Response Committee at the Seoul Southern District Court is expected to be announced after next week.

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