MPK blasts prosecution for indictment of its leader

Main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea chairwoman Choo Mi-ae, front row third from left, and her fellow lawmakers denounce the prosecution over its indictment of Choo during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday.
/ Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun

By Kim Hyo-jin

The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) slammed the prosecution, Thursday, over its indictment of Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae on charges of election law violations the previous day.

The party claimed that behind this "witch-hunting" is senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Woo Byung-woo ― and possibly President Park Geun-hye.

"The prosecution ― yet again ― has become a loyal, savage dog for those in power," Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the party's floor leader, said in a statement.

In a party meeting, senior members vowed an all-out struggle against the prosecution and agreed to launch a special committee to come up with plans to reform it.

The strong reaction came a day after the prosecution indicted Choo and 12 other senior party members on charges of violating election rules during the April 13 general election.

An aide of National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun, a former MPK member, was also indicted on charges of illegal campaigning. The speaker has been at loggerheads with the ruling party, which claims he violated political neutrality by siding with opposition parties.

MPK lawmakers charged that the prosecution is targeting opposition members to overshadow ongoing corruption scandals linked to presidential aides.

The opposition bloc has zeroed in on suspicions surrounding civil affairs secretary Woo and the Mir and K-Sports foundations allegedly controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a long-time friend of the President, during Assembly audit sessions.

The MPK leader accused the prosecution of abusing its power in a bid to distract public attention from the ongoing scandals.

"The prosecution has made false, concocted indictments, becoming a servant of the authorities," Choo said during an emergency party meeting. "It intended to cover up scandals involving Choi Soon-sil and Woo Byung-woo."

The prosecution claimed Choo deceived voters by spreading false information during her campaign. It took issue with campaign leaflets saying she contributed to keeping the Seoul Eastern District Court in her constituency Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.
She denied the accusation.

Rep. Woo, the party's floor leader, lashed out at the prosecution's move, calling it a "retaliatory step" against the opposition.

"There has been no example where the opposition leader, chief policymaker, spokesman, and four-term senior lawmakers were collectively indicted," he said. "If the prosecution adopted the same standard on us as it did on ruling party lawmakers, we would have not raised questions about it."

On Wednesday, the prosecution cleared influence-peddling suspicions against the Saenuri Party's Choi Kyung-hwan, the de-facto leader of the party's pro-Park faction, and Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, a loyalist to the President.

They were embroiled in controversy after a local broadcaster disclosed the recordings of private phone conversations between the Park loyalists and a candidate hopeful in the run-up to the April 13 general election.

In the recording aired by TV Chosun, Choi and Yoon pressured ex-lawmaker Kim Sung-hoi to withdraw his bid to run in the constituency where Suh Chung-won, another Park confidant, was planning to run.

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