Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Liberal groups urge release of ex-progressive lawmaker
Liberal civic groups rally at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Saturday, calling for the release of former Unified Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki. / Yonhap
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
Liberal and conservative civic groups held massive rallies in downtown Seoul on Saturday, one calling for the release of former progressive party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki and the other calling for the release of former President Park Geun-hye.
A coalition of 56 civic groups demonstrated at Gwanghwamun Square in the afternoon, urging the release of Lee, a former lawmaker of the now-disbanded Unified Progressive Party (UPP), who was sentenced to nine years in jail on allegations of instigating a plot to topple the government in the case of war with North Korea.
Their action came amid growing allegations that former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae, through the National Court Administration (NCA), used politically sensitive trials as bargaining chips in dealing with the Park government to curry favor for a new court of appeals to be established.
In their investigation into the judicial power abuse scandal, prosecutors found evidence recently that the NCA meddled in the Lee case by having specific judges deal with it, along with many more politically sensitive cases.
The groups claimed that to curry favor with the conservative Park administration, the judiciary under Yang disbanded the progressive party and arrested Lee unfairly.
“Lee is the biggest victim of the judicial power abuse,” the civic groups said, demanding those responsible be punished and that Lee be released.
“Now is the time to eradicate 70 years of deep-rooted evil that has been caused by the division (of the Korean Peninsula),” said Lee Chang-bok, head of a civic group supporting the June 15 Joint Declaration signed at the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.
The organizers estimated 20,000 people attended the rally.
Before the gathering at Gwanghwamun Square, some of them also held a protest in front of the Supreme Court in southern Seoul, calling for Yang's arrest.
Members of conservative civic groups demand the release of former President Park Geun-hye, who has been jailed for corruption, at a rally in front of Seoul Station, Saturday. / Yonhap
Only several kilometers away, conservative civic groups held a protest in front of Seoul Station to call for the release of Park, who was ousted and has been in jail over a massive corruption scandal.
They cited Friday's suicide of retired Lieutenant General Lee Jae-su, a former chief of the Defense Security Command, who committed suicide amid investigations into his alleged involvement in the illegal surveillance of the bereaved families of Sewol ferry sinking victims.
Since the 2014 sinking, the Park administration has been criticized for carrying out poor rescue operations and suppressing families who called for the truth about the tragedy.
“The Moon Jae-in administration talks about national unity and the establishment of a new Korea, but it is killing people who played a leading role in establishing the country,” they said. “This all started from Park's impeachment. That was an impeachment not only of Park but also of the country.”
They marched toward the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, passing the liberal groups' rally site. There were no clashes.