Park praises court ruling

By Shim Jae-yun

President Park Geun-hye Saturday praised a Constitutional Court’s ruling for the dissolution of the leftist Unified Progressive Party (UPP) for upholding pro-North Korea views and posing a threat to democracy.

“President Park said the ruling will strongly protect liberal democracy in the nation,” said Yoon Doo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for public relations, Saturday.

“The basic principle of democracy is possible only on the basis of constitutional values. It is right to dissolve the party because it has undermined the values,” Yoon quoted Park as saying.

The top court ordered the dissolution of the party in an 8-1 vote Friday, saying that the party’s principles and activities violated South Korea’s “basic democratic order.”

With the first dissolution of a party by means of the Constitutional Court, established in 1988, five UPP lawmakers lost their seats in the 300-member National Assembly. By-elections to fill these will be held in April.

The court ruling is expected to deepen ideological divisions within the nation with parties now at loggerheads over the dissolution, and the stripping of seats from lawmakers.

Park has recently been moving to solidify her conservative support base.

Last week she criticized Korean-American Shin Eun-mi for praising North Korea during a public forum.

“It is problematic to exaggerate and perversely advertise the situation in North Korea based on a person’s limited experience,” Park told senior secretaries on Dec. 15.

Strong criticism of the decision came from inside North Korea.

“It is a crime against humanity to forcibly disband a legitimate political party,” said the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a North Korean Workers’ Party organization that handles inter-Korean affairs in a statement.

“It is equivalent to challenging humanity, civilization and universal human rights.”