Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the Democratic Party of Korea on the 3rd, labeling their push to impeach three prosecutors including Choi Jae-hae, the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and Lee Chang-soo, the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, as “gangster politics”. He also condemned the budget cut approved unilaterally by the opposition party in the Special Committee for Budget and Accounts, calling it a “deception against the public”.
In a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly, Choo stated, “The Democratic Party’s impeachment of the Audit Bureau chairman and three prosecutors is a backward form of political terrorism, where a criminal group uses the authority of the National Assembly to retaliate and intimidate investigative and audit agencies to conceal their crimes. It’s no longer parliamentary politics but mere gangster politics. Such irresponsible impeachment is unconstitutional.”
He criticized the ‘reduced budget bill’ passed by the committee, saying, “They made further austerity measures by slashing the government’s budget by an additional 4 trillion won, and then shamelessly argued in Daegu yesterday that we need an expansionary fiscal policy. This is a blatant deception against the public.”
Regarding the decision to participate in a government investigation into the Marine Corps incident, Choo mentioned, “Deciding to participate in the investigation was based on concerns from many people that the essence of fact-finding might be distorted. Seven People Power Party lawmakers, with Rep. Yoo Sang-beom from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee taking the lead, will take part.”
Choo also announced plans to take legal action concerning the opposition’s decision to handle the amendment of the Permanent Special Prosecutor’s Rules at a plenary session, stating, “We will file for a constitutional adjudication and interim disposition for suspension of effect against their unconstitutional and illegal maneuvering and will respond resolutely through all possible measures.”
Additionally, Choo addressed an espionage bill amendment that is being promoted to apply to foreign countries, revealing, “As of October, the police detected a total of 25 cases of overseas technology leakage, with 18 cases involving leaks to China. If the National Assembly fails to expand the espionage law, it would benefit other countries like China, not South Korea.”