“The National Assembly’s Main Hall is Not a Place for the Democratic Party’s Supreme Council”
Seoul, Yonhap News – On the 14th, Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik for possibly fostering illegal protests by criticizing the police’s response to illegal violent protests.
Choo released a statement expressing his strong regret, saying, “Speaker Woo has forgotten his role as National Assembly Speaker by siding with the Democratic Party and defending illegal violent protests while criticizing the legitimate exercise of public power by the police.”
He noted, “During the illegal violent protests by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions last weekend, 105 police officers were injured,” asserting that “illegal violent protests that inconvenience others and threaten public peace and order cannot be justified as a constitutional right to assembly.”
Choo further emphasized that the criticism of the police’s legitimate response by the National Assembly Speaker could undermine the rightful exercise of authority and encourage illegal protests.
He concluded by stating, “The National Assembly’s main session is not the Democratic Party’s Supreme Council,” expressing strong regret that a speaker of National Assembly origin from the Democratic Party continued to make partisan statements in favor of the Democratic Party during the session.
Earlier in the day, during the main session of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Speaker Woo had mentioned, “An unfortunate incident occurred at a rally on the 9th where a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea was injured due to the police’s use of force.”
He added, “Assemblies and demonstrations are part of the democratic process. As demonstrated by the Candlelight Plaza, a non-violent protest culture is a pride of our democracy,” stressing that “participants of assemblies should be careful, and the police should not overreact.”