Kim Yong-tae, chairman of the People Power Party’s emergency committee, met with President Lee Jae-myung on the 4th to express concerns about the Democratic Party of Korea's unilateral attempt to process amendments to the Public Official Election Act, Court Organization Act, and Criminal Procedure Act. Regarding responsibility for the presidential election defeat, he said they would gather opinions soon and make a decision.
Chairman Kim said at a luncheon commemorating the presidential inauguration held at Sarangjae in the National Assembly, 'The amendments to the Public Official Election Act, Court Organization Act, and Criminal Procedure Act, which the ruling party is trying to process in the plenary session, are of very serious concern.'
The amendment to the Public Official Election Act involves deleting ‘act’ from the elements constituting the crime of false statement under the election law. President Lee Jae-myung was previously found guilty by the Supreme Court on the 1st of last month for allegedly making false statements regarding an ‘act’. If the amendment passes the National Assembly plenary session, the retrial for President Lee may result in a 'dismissal' (where the case cannot be pursued due to the abolition of relevant legal provisions) verdict. The main point of the Criminal Procedure Act amendment is to halt criminal trials if the defendant is elected as president during their term.
The Court Organization Act includes increasing the number of Supreme Court justices from the current 14. Previously, two bills were processed independently under the leadership of the opposition party in the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee last month. The plan is to pass the Court Organization Act by holding consecutive meetings of the subcommittee and general meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee today.
Chairman Kim, after the luncheon, met with reporters and expressed concern about the related bills, saying, 'Supporters of candidate Kim Moon-soo or the Reform Party candidate exceed the majority. While voters supporting the two candidates are deeply concerned about the bills planned to be processed in the plenary session tomorrow, the ruling party's push deviates significantly from the national integration mentioned by the president.'
In response, Chairman Kim conveyed that 'President Lee commented that the Public Official Election Act would not be processed tomorrow, only the Court Organization Act might be.'
Chairman Kim also proposed jointly pursuing the common parts of the ruling and opposition parties' public livelihood pledges from the presidential election, and President Lee reportedly agreed.
Regarding demands from within the party, led by the pro-Han Dong-hoon faction, for the leadership to resign collectively, Chairman Kim stated, 'I am listening and observing without exception,' and added, 'We will gather wisdom to decide what is the right judgment for the party and the people.'