People Power Party Criticizes DP's Pressure to Impeach Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae; Deliberation on Direct Election of District Committee Chairs Postponed

A Supreme Council member stated that the Democratic Party's intention behind attacking Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae was to increase the number of Supreme Court justices and have the president directly intervene to appoint justices favorable to them, in order to cover up Lee Jae-myung's alleged crimes. This was criticized as an infringement on judicial independence and a violation of the constitution.

Criticism was raised that the Democratic Party is trying to shape the judiciary to suit the administration's tastes, and it was argued that Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae is being attacked for not complying.

Harsh criticism continued regarding the current administration's foreign policy performance. It was pointed out that the United States is bypassing Korea, North Korea is mocking Korea, and China is ignoring Korea. In particular, it was criticized that while Lee Jae-myung proclaimed himself a 'diplomatic genius,' his actual diplomatic performance has been abysmal.

Examples of diplomatic failure included the lack of consultation for canceling joint Korea-U.S. exercises, North Korea's recognition as a nuclear power and mockery of Korea, and China's leading role in legitimizing North Korea's 'two states theory.' The incident where National Assembly members were denied entry to China due to their visit to Taiwan was also cited as a facet of diplomatic incompetence.

Summarizing these situations, strong criticism was raised, labeling it 'self-destructive diplomacy' rather than 'self-reliant diplomacy.'

Criticism was raised regarding the situation where the already announced real estate tax reform plan was not only hastily revised, but also exposed disagreements between the party and the government on the direction of the amendments. This was pointed out as undermining policy predictability and reliability.

The controversy over expanding recognition of residency for non-resident single homeowners emerged as a key issue, and various problems were raised, including stopgap policy implementation and the burden of comprehensive real estate tax regardless of actual residency.

Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign promises regarding real estate policy were criticized as complete lies. The 'three big lies' mentioned by citizens are the promise to fully return Yongsan Park to the public, the promise to reduce real estate taxes, and the promise to ease real estate loan regulations.

The controversy over building rental housing in Yongsan Park was criticized as contradicting the promise to return it to the citizens. Furthermore, the strengthening of real estate taxes and loan regulations was pointed out as demonstrating a policy direction diametrically opposed to the original promises.

These policies were criticized for infringing upon citizens' property rights and reflecting a poor policy philosophy.

Pointing out the failure of youth housing policies, the resignation of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport was demanded. In particular, the effectiveness of the amendment requiring bathtubs in gosiwons was questioned, and it was strongly criticized as a policy that ignored the reality of young people.

It was recommended that the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport step down from office, not just because of this small incident, but to take responsibility for the overall housing policy of South Korea going forward.

Concerns were raised that the government and the Bank of Korea plan to expand the real-world experiment of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency)-based deposit tokens to Phase 2 starting in September. This was criticized as rushing policies without public consultation or National Assembly discussions.

It was pointed out that the government is trying to push through important financial policies secretly from the public, and voices called for transparent and democratic procedures.

A proposal was made regarding the method for re-electing People Power Party district committee chairs. It was argued that methods for district innovation, including direct election of district chairs, should be decided by unanimous consent of Supreme Council members, not by majority vote.

A method combining 50% from responsible party members and 50% from local public opinion polls was proposed, adding that the election method for incumbent lawmakers serving as district committee chairs should be considered separately.

This is interpreted as an attempt to enhance the transparency and fairness of district committee chair elections.

Criticism was raised regarding the court's 'illegally acquired evidence' ruling in the Lee Jung-geun case. The court's logic was criticized: that even though the prosecution should have stopped listening and obtained a new search warrant when different content emerged during the investigation, they listened to everything before obtaining the warrant, thus making the evidence illegally acquired.

It was pointed out that this court ruling led to the defendants in the cash-for-favors case being acquitted, and it was argued that the substantive truth was disregarded for the sake of procedural legitimacy.

Concerns were raised about the serious problem of police mishandling missing persons cases. It was revealed that the police officer who handled the Jang Mi-ran missing person case falsified reports to close the case, and it was criticized that a similar method was repeated in a missing person report for a 60-year-old man.

The irresponsibility of the police was condemned, citing a case where despite the family reporting three times, the police did not act, and only after the fourth report did a search begin, leading to the man being found dead a day later. In particular, structural flaws allowing individual officers to handle cases without managerial approval were pointed out, emphasizing the lack of oversight mechanisms.

This led to calls for systemic reform within the police force.

The People Power Party strongly criticized the Democratic Party for forcing through a motion in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to summon Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and Noh Kyung-pil, Head of the National Court Administration, as witnesses for an urgent interpellation session on the 31st.

A spokesperson defined this as 'despicable humiliation' and 'political retaliation,' interpreting it as an intention to hold an 'extortionate hearing' that pressures the situation by hinting at impeachment.

Regarding the exposed disagreement between the party and the government on the direction of real estate tax reform, a spokesperson pointed out that it undermines policy predictability and reliability. This appears to be a de facto rejection of the Democratic Party's demand to abolish the distinction between residents and non-residents for comprehensive real estate tax.

However, it was reported that the party and government have reached a consensus on expanding the recognition of residency for unavoidable non-residency reasons. Criticism continued regarding the government's diminishing policy reliability and stopgap measures.

Discussions on the direct election system for People Power Party district committee chairs were postponed without a conclusion and moved to the next meeting. While initially intended for organizational reform and identity establishment, concerns about distortion for specific purposes seem to have been raised.

It was decided to re-discuss the matter at the next meeting after gathering opinions from some Supreme Council members and many lawmakers. A spokesperson explained that the principle of introducing direct elections for district committee chairs is not being retreated from or re-examined.

This is interpreted as a move to coordinate various opinions within the party and make a careful decision after sufficient discussion. Several options are being discussed for the re-election method of district committee chairs, including a combination of 50% from responsible party members and 50% from local public opinion polls.

The People Power Party aims to expand party member participation and strengthen local foundations through district innovation, but a concrete agreement on specific measures has not yet been reached.

Regarding the controversy surrounding the forum hosted by Rep. Lee Jin-sook, the People Power Party drew a line, stating that it was not a party-level event and therefore the party had no official position. This appears to be an attempt to view it as Rep. Lee Jin-sook's individual activity and separate it from the party's overall stance.

A spokesperson emphasized the constitutional roles and freedom of speech of National Assembly members, criticizing the idea of restricting them by law as 'gagging lawmakers using legislative power.' It was stressed that the opinions raised at this forum were those of the forum participants, not Rep. Lee Jin-sook's personal position.