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| Rep. Lee Jung-hee, center, chairwoman of the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), speaks during a press conference at Seoul Plaza in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Lee criticized the government for filing a petition with the Constitutional Court to disband the leftist party, calling it a return to dictatorship. / Yonhap |
Fate of far leftist party tossed to Constitutional Court
By Chung Min-uck
The government Tuesday filed a petition with the Constitutional Court calling for the banning of the far left-leaning minor Progressive Party (UPP) for engaging in seditious activities to aid North Korea.
It is the first such petition since the court was established in 1988 and was filed after being approved by the Cabinet earlier in the day. It is now two months since Rep. Lee Seok-ki and other party members were arrested on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government.
The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Chung Hong-won as President Park Geun-hye is currently in the United Kingdom on a state visit.
The petition also seeks to have the rights of its six lawmakers, including two selected through proportional representation, suspended and a ban on all political activities by the party until a ruling is made.
"We have determined that the UPP's platform and its objectives are intended to favor North Korean socialism, which goes against the free democratic basic order of our Constitution and that the activities of the RO (Revolutionary Organization) which forms the party's core, were in line with North Korea's strategy to revolutionize the South," said Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn in a press briefing held after the passing of the petition at the Cabinet meeting.
The leftist party condemned the proposal's passage as "an act trampling on the basic values of democracy."
"President Park Geun-hye is leading this direct breach of, and contempt toward, our Constitution," said UPP spokesman Hong Sung-gyu.
President Park approved the petition online. Minister Hwang said other procedural steps are underway to invalidate the activities of the left-leaning party and its lawmakers.
A ban of the UPP is subject to approval by at least six of the nine members of the Constitutional Court after a deliberation period of six months.
Experts say the court, which exists separate from the main body of the judicial system headed by the Supreme Court, and led by President Park Han-chul, a prosecutor who worked for a public security division, is known for being conservative.
The ruling Saenuri Party expressed support for the government's decision.
"It appears that the government passed the petition based on reasonable grounds and evidence," spokesman Yoo Il-ho said during a phone interview with Yonhap News Agency. "Now, we hope that the Constitutional Court will reach a proper conclusion that the public can accept."
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) also called for a fair judgment.
"It is very regrettable that an unfortunate situation, unprecedented in our constitutional history, has occurred," spokesman Kim Kwan-young said at a press briefing. "We hope for a responsible and wise decision from the Constitutional Court justices, based on historical awareness."
UPP leader Lee Jung-hee described the petition as "an attempt to go back to the Yushin regime by President Park Geun-hye," referring to an era under the dictatorship of her father, the late President Park Chung-hee. Lee vowed to fight to the end to oppose this.
In September, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) provided information that Rep. Lee and other UPP members engaged in pro-North Korean activities, highlighted by recordings of secret conversations in which Lee was heard ordering his subordinates to prepare for an armed struggle to help Pyongyang if it attacked South Korea.
The current Park administration is known for sticking to its principle of reciprocity when dealing with the North.
Meanwhile, concerning the UPP controversy, the DP must shoulder some of the blame because the former's members were elected to the National Assembly via last year's parliamentary elections by joining forces with it.
With the far-left party out of the picture, experts agree it could be a positive thing for the liberals over the long term because they can remove the so-called "pro-North Korea" label attached to them for so long.
"If the opposition can erase their pro-North image by the UPP being banned, it is not really bad for them," said Professor Kim Hyung-joon at Myongji University in Seoul. "It is time for the opposition, especially the DP, to take a more firm stance on North Korean security issues to evade further ideological attacks from the ruling party."
Conservatives have long used the so-called "North Korea card" involving North Korea security issues and labeling liberals as pro-North to win elections.
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