Constitutional Court to Review Beef Imports
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The Constitutional Court said Friday it will review whether the government's decision to resume importing American beef conflicts in any way with the Constitution, after accepting petitions made by the opposition parties and the Lawyers for a Democratic Society.
The four opposition parties ― United Democratic Party, Liberty Forward Party, Democratic Labor Party and the Renewal of Korea Party ― filed two separate petitions on May 30. In addition, the progressive lawyers' group made another petition on June 5, after collecting 96,000 signatures from citizens on the Internet.
The Constitutional Court has since examined the three petitions separately to decide whether to reject them or review them.
The full nine-judge court will review whether the announcement of the beef import resumption is a violation of the people's basic rights.
Under the current system, the court has 180 days to reach a verdict after it accepts a petition.
The government already announced the resumption of U.S. beef imports in the state gazette Thursday, but the Constitutional Court can impose a provisional disposition to suspend the resumption, if necessary, as a precaution.