Song Eon-seok, the emergency countermeasures committee chairman and floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the search and seizure of the People Power Party’s central office by special prosecutor Kim Kun-hee’s team (Special Prosecutor Min Jung-gi) as “unprecedented oppression of the opposition and gangster behavior.”
At an emergency press briefing on the 13th before the joint speech session of the party’s 6th national convention at Daejeon Paichai University, Song expressed his anger, saying, “I cannot help but be outraged at the Lee Jae-myung administration’s brutal oppression of the opposition and political retaliation using the special prosecution.”
Song argued, “This administration, facing political crisis due to pardons given to shameless criminals like Cho Kuk, Yoon Mee-hyang, and Choi Kang-wook, is attempting a phase-shifting search and seizure led by the special prosecutor, who acts as the regime’s lapdog.”
He further stated, “Despite knowing full well that the opposition’s national convention, a festival for party members, is taking place, conducting a search and seizure of the party’s central office in the midst of members gathering at the joint speech venue is an unprecedented and flagrant oppression of the opposition,” and compared it to “gangster behavior reminiscent of the ‘Yongpal incident,’ aiming to disrupt the opposition’s national convention.”
Song pointed out, “The schedule for today’s joint speech event was announced weeks ago,” and remarked, “If they came intending to search the central office during the event, it is no different from calling them burglars.”
When asked about the special prosecutor’s claim that they were “there to receive cooperation in submitting materials,” Song questioned, “How is this different from a regular search and seizure?” He emphasized, “Claiming that they came to seize the party member list is a clear act of oppression against the opposition. The party member list is the beginning and end of a political party.”
He also noted, “There is no section on the party membership application form to indicate religion,” and added, “Even if there were a section to indicate one’s religion, there is no reason for any Korean citizen to object to specifying a religion.”
Regarding requests for attendance targeting People Power Party lawmakers, Song said, “It’s not appropriate for the party to issue guidelines on how to handle investigations,” but expressed confidence that “each lawmaker will respond appropriately based on their own judgment.”
Earlier that day, the special prosecutor’s team sent investigators to the People Power Party’s central office in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, related to Chan Sung-bae’s alleged solicitation and showed a search and seizure warrant, essentially collecting necessary materials voluntarily in order to secure digital data. The People Power Party’s Planning and Coordination Office within the National Assembly building was also included in the search.
The special prosecutor’s team explained, “It is not a typical search and seizure but rather an effort to obtain cooperation in submitting digital data.”