Opposition Holds 'Cheong Wa Dae General Assembly' to Urge Veto of Three Judicial Reform Bills

Financial News reported that on the 5th, the People Power Party held a general meeting of its lawmakers in front of Cheong Wa Dae (the Blue House). There, they urged President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea to exercise his veto power (the right to request reconsideration) against three judicial reform bills—on increasing the number of Supreme Court justices, introducing constitutional complaints against court rulings, and creating an offense of distorting the law—which passed the plenary session of the National Assembly under the lead of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). To symbolize what they called the disruption of the separation of powers, participants wore black suits, ties, and masks, in a style resembling mourning attire.
At the meeting, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok declared, "If President Lee Jae-myung today strikes the gavel in the State Council of South Korea to push through these three evil laws, it will be like hammering away at the foundations of the Republic of Korea (South Korea)." He went on, "If President Lee Jae-myung does not exercise his veto over the three evil laws, then the people of South Korea should exercise their veto over President Lee Jae-myung."
Earlier, the DPK pushed through at the plenary session of the National Assembly several key amendments: a revision of the Criminal Act to introduce an "offense of distorting the law," allowing punishment of judges and prosecutors who allegedly distort the interpretation of evidence or application of statutes in criminal cases; an amendment to the Constitutional Court Act to introduce constitutional complaints against court rulings by making final Supreme Court decisions subject to constitutional review; and a revision of the Court Organization Act to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from the current 14 to 26. The People Power Party responded with a filibuster—an unlimited debate allowed under parliamentary rules to delay proceedings—but ultimately only managed to postpone the timing of the vote.
Regarding this, Jang said, "Because of the Iran situation, the exchange rate, stock prices, and every aspect of the South Korean economy are collapsing, and yet they say they will place these three evil laws that destroy the judicial order on the agenda of today's State Council of South Korea." He warned, "If these laws pass, the judicial order and liberal democracy of South Korea will be completely destroyed, and Lee Jae-myung's dictatorship in South Korea will be completed."
Song Eon-seok, the People Power Party's parliamentary leader, argued, "If Lee Jae-myung does not exercise his veto over the three evil laws that destroy the judiciary, he himself will go down as a great sinner in the 5,000-year history of South Korea." He added, "If, here today at Cheong Wa Dae, these three evil laws are promulgated as they are, it will open Pandora's box of constitutional destruction by the ruling forces—inciting the withdrawal of indictments, and engaging in blackmail and intimidation to force the resignation of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court."
He continued, "The president's ghost-like tricks have pierced the principles of heaven, and his uncanny self-protection has mastered the ways of the earth," pressing further, "He has committed so many sins that he should recognize the limits of perfection and stop now."
This was the second time the People Power Party went to Cheong Wa Dae to oppose the passage of the three judicial reform bills. On the 3rd, Jang and other party leaders and lawmakers marched on foot from the National Assembly in Yeouido to Cheong Wa Dae, calling for the exercise of the veto. However, during the march, a large number of "Yoon Again" supporters—backers of former president Yoon Suk Yeol—joined in, and because the party had not filed an official rally notification, participants were forced into a "silent march," which sparked considerable discontent within the party. At the time, Lee Jae-myung was away on an overseas tour to Singapore and the Philippines.
haeram@fnnews.com Lee Hae-ram Reporter