Park Hong-keun, “Opposition Party Leader Subpoenaed for the First Time in the History of Our Constitution... Even the Nazis Advocated the Rule of Law”

Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Park Hong-keun speaks at a meeting to discuss the party’s strategy on the floor at the National Assembly on January 10. Yonhap News

Park Hong-keun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized prosecutors after they subpoenaed Lee Jae-myung for questioning on January 10 and said, “When the German Nazis and the Japanese Government-General of Korea threatened the people, they also claimed the rule of law.”

In a meeting to discuss the party’s strategy on the floor at the National Assembly Tuesday, Park said, “This government is the first in the history of our Constitution to summon an incumbent leader of the major opposition party to the Prosecutors’ Office,” and announced, “Outwardly, they state the rule of law, but in reality, it is nothing more than ruthless ‘rule with an iron fist’ trying to remove President Yoon Suk-yeol’s political opponent and suppress the opposition party.”

Park mentioned that the police had already conducted an intensive investigation into the Seongnam F.C. for three years and dismissed the case and argued, “We can only see this as an attempt by the Yoon Suk-yeol government to oppress the opposition party by reopening a case that was cleared, after they failed to found anything in the investigation of the Daejang-dong allegations.”

The Democratic Party floor leader described how 107 former local government chiefs announced on Monday, “Subpoena us before you subpoena Lee Jae-myung” and how they “warned the Yoon government for abusing normal local administration as a means to suppress the opposition party.”

Park said, “Since the government pulled out its ‘investigative guns,’ the ruling party is joining in efforts to wipe out the opposition party.” He mentioned how a lawmaker in the ruling People Power Party leadership had openly revealed dark intentions by saying, “If the opposition party is arrested, support for the People Power Party will rise 10%.” The opposition party floor leader claimed that the PPP lawmaker practically “confessed that the Yoon Suk-yeol government and the ruling party worked together to scheme the suppression of the opposition party.”

Park said, “One falls by the law one enacts. In other words, they say one gets caught in one’s own trap.” “We sternly warn the Yoon Suk-yeol government to immediately stop oppressing the opposition party and to focus state administration on the people’s livelihoods and the economy in the face of a mix of crises,” he warned.

Kim Sung-whan, the head of the Democratic Party’s policy committee argued, “The Yoon Suk-yeol government is a government that has all the cruelty of Chun Doo-hwan, the wickedness of Lee Myung-bak and the incompetence of Park Geun-hye.” He said, “At the time of the last presidential election, lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo said that if people voted Yoon for president, they would want to cut off their fingers within a year,” and added, “There are many people who think that in just eight months, not to mention a year.”

Kim further said, “Just as the leader of the opposition party cannot be a sanctuary before the law, the spouse of the president cannot be one either.” He argued, “Yoon Suk-yeol’s Prosecution Service will have to answer why they are not investigating first lady Kim Keon-hee’s market manipulation of Deutsch Motors shares when they are shaking Lee (with all their might) as if performing an Indian rain dance.”