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Pres. Park’s contradictory request

Posted January. 23, 2017 07:12,   

Updated January. 23, 2017 07:17

한국어

The defense counsel for President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment has announced on Saturday that it would file a criminal lawsuit and claim damage against media companies and a special independent counsel investigation team led by Park Young-soo who has reported that President Park had made direct order to produce the blacklist of figures in culture and art communities. If any problems are found in media report, request for correction report can be made to the media companies concerned or petition can be filed to Press Arbitration Committee. Given that, the counsel’s decision to file civil and criminal suits first appears to be going too far, intending to stifle the media activities. In particular, it is all too contradictory to file lawsuits against the special counsel that was appointed by the president herself even though she did so due to public pressure.

What the counsel is doing translates into filing a suit against the prosecution to investigate the ongoing case just because they don’t like the investigation currently being made. Its intention is to put pressure on the special investigation counsel by filing against the case which should be investigated at the court. The defense counsel for President Park is so sensitive because her order to make the blacklist can be a direct cause for impeachment unlike bribery charges that could spark off disputes in the perspective of legal principles. If President Park turns out to have been involved in making the blacklist, it is a breach of the constitution that stipulates the freedom of press, publication, academia and art, and bans censorship. The independent team sees that in May 2014 President Park ordered to the effect that any budget of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism should not support any figures of left-wing culture and art communities, which means that the blacklist was produced at the order by President Park.

Kim Ki-choon, former Chief Presidential Secretary who is known to be responsible for planning and supervising the making of the blacklist, made an excuse by saying that “I believed that it was at my own discretion as the government budget that the president ordered not to give out to left-wing communities is government subsidies.” It doesn’t make any sense that he doesn’t know the constitution which guarantees the freedom of conscience and expression‎ as he has been dubbed “Mr. Law and Order” as a law specialist. Former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun is still making complete denial of any charges imposed on her. It seems that the two are continuously making sophistry or denial because they used to earn full confidence of President Park and the making of blacklist is directly linked to impeachment.

The independent counsel plans to make a vis-a-vis investigation on President Park early next month. The investigation on the president is the climax and finale of what independent counsel is supposed to do. Before that, however, the investigation on Woo Byeong-woo, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs who has acquiesced in Choi Soon-sil’s intervention in state affairs, must come first. Only then the investigation on manipulated government affairs can be complete. Although Woo is facing allegation of having a complete control on managing human resources while “executing” the manipulation of government affairs, the investigation on him has not been properly made. Regardless of rejection of warrant that the counsel had issued against Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the investigation on manipulated government affairs must be carried forward.