People Power Party's Kim Seung-su Introduces 'Jo Guk Prevention Act'... "Prohibit Succession if Conviction Confirmed After Proportional Representation Election"

Kim Seung-su, a member of the People Power Party (Daegu Buk-gu Eul), announced on the 23rd that he has taken the lead in proposing the "Jo Guk Prevention Act," which prohibits the act of running for the National Assembly election despite having already been sentenced guilty in the first and second trials, using the National Assembly as a refuge, intimidating judges and prosecutors, attempting to shield oneself, and then succeeding to a proportional representation seat once the sentence is finalized.

Under current law, when a proportional representation National Assembly member's seat becomes vacant, the seat is succeeded according to the order listed on the proportional representation candidate list of the party to which the vacant member belonged at the time of the election.

Kim Seung-su, Member of the People Power Party

Exploiting this loophole in the law, former lawmaker Jo Guk ran in the 22nd general election despite receiving a two-year prison sentence in the second trial for charges of his child's admission fraud and obstruction of inspection. He served as a member of the 22nd National Assembly, supported the impeachment of prosecutors, and advocated for the "dismantling of the prosecution," thereby intimidating the judiciary.

On the 12th, the Supreme Court finalized the sentence against former lawmaker Jo Guk, and Baek Seon-hee, next in line on the Jo Guk Innovation Party's list, succeeded to the vacant seat.

As seen in this case, since the reason for the vacancy lies with the proportional representation member themselves and the party recommended the candidate despite being fully aware of this in advance, the party should also bear responsibility. Moreover, the fact that there are no restrictions on the succession of the vacant seat is also problematic.

Kim Seung-su proposed a partial amendment to the Public Official Election Act, which prohibits a proportional representation National Assembly member who has been sentenced and registered as a candidate before the sentence is finalized from succeeding to the seat if the sentence is finalized and the seat becomes vacant.

Kim Seung-su stated, "It is deplorable that the National Assembly has become a refuge for the Democratic Party and the Jo Guk Innovation Party," adding, "In particular, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, has impeached and humiliated the prosecutors who investigated him by holding hearings." He emphasized, "Criminals should no longer be allowed to run rampant in the National Assembly. Through this amendment, I hope that by preventing succession to seats vacated due to finalized sentences, we can have a healthier National Assembly."

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