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Court disbands pro-N. Korea party
Nine Constitutional Court justices are seated during a verdict on the United Progressive Party, Friday. From left are Seo Ki-seog, Ahn Chang-ho, Lee Jin-sung, Lee Jung-mi, Park Han-chul, the chief justice, Kim Yi-su, Kim Chang-jong, Kang Il-won and Cho Yong-ho. Only judge Kim Yi-su voted in favor of the UPP. / Yonhap
By Kim Se-jeong
Unprecedented ruling on UPP met with hurrahs, fears of McCarthyism
By Kim Se-jeong
The Constitutional Court has dissolved the pro-North Korean Unified Progressive Party (UPP) in the first judiciary move to outlaw a political party since the nation’s Constitution was first drawn up in 1948.
The nine-person justice panel voted on Friday with an overwhelming 8-1 majority in favor of disbanding the UPP, which was created in 2011.
“The UPP had a hidden agenda to adopt North Korea’s socialism, organizing meetings to plot a rebellion, in violation of the basic democratic order of the Constitution,” the court’s President Park Han-chul read out in the ruling.
Park added that, “The activities that the party organized, with a hidden goal of creating a Communist country like North Korea, goes against the Constitution, which promotes democracy as a fundamental social order.”
Of the nine members of the Constitutional Court, only Justice Kim Yi-su dissented, arguing that the UPP’s activities had not brought critical harm to the democratic social order.
The ruling took effect immediately, Kim Kyu-jong, an official from the Constitutional Court, said, referring to the Constitutional Court Act, which states that “When a decision that orders the dissolution of a political party is pronounced, the political party shall be dissolved.”
As the result of the court’s decision, five lawmakers at the National Assembly were stripped of their seats, opening the way for by-elections in April.
UPP members and its supporters criticized the court ruling, saying it would lead to an ideological witch hunt, similar to McCarthyism experienced in the U.S. during the 1950s. The UPP has almost 30,000 members.
The five former representatives of the Assembly are Kim Min-hyui, Kim Jae-yeon, Oh Byung-yun, Lee Sang-kyu and Lee Seok-ki. Three of them — Kim Min-hyui, Oh Byung-yun and Lee Sang-gyu — were elected as lawmakers, while the other two gained seats through the proportional representative system where political parties select lawmakers in proportion to the number of votes their candidates won in the general election.
According to the National Election Commission, the UPP is now obliged to give up all government subsidies, and its assets have been frozen.
The ruling came more than 400 days after the government first filed a petition asking the court to break up the party. This followed the arrest of several UPP members on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.
Among those arrested was former National Assembly representative Lee Seok-ki, who was convicted in February this year of conspiring to support a North Korean takeover of the South and sentenced by Suwon District Court to 12 years in prison. This sentence was later reduced on appeal to nine years by Seoul High Court in August, but Lee then brought his case to the Supreme Court, and is awaiting its decision in January.
Friday’s decision was welcomed by many conservatives, while liberals largely condemned it. Members of the UPP staged a protest outside the Constitutional Court to protest the decision.
Lee Jung-hee, the party chairwoman, said after the ruling that, “Now Korea is ruled by a dictator.”
“The Constitutional Court, which was created after the pro-democracy movement of the 1980s, has now given up listening to the people,” she added.
Some people have viewed Friday’s decision with concern, saying it may restrict free speech, especially when it comes to North Korea. A similar question was raised by Korean-American intellectual Shin Eun-mi, who is currently being questioned for travelling to North Korea and speaking publicly about her trips.
The Constitutional Court was established in 1988 with an aim to protecting the public’s rights. That was when South Korea’s democracy was taking shape after decades of military dictatorship under Park Chung-hee, the father of the current President Park Geun-hye.