The People Power Party launched a struggle against the ruling party and government following the raid on the central party headquarters of the Special Investigation Team led by Min Jung-ki, who is investigating allegations against first lady Kim Keon-hee. The People Power Party has defined the raid on the central party headquarters as a 'suppression of the opposition party' by the government and ruling party, and plans to respond with full force under its leadership. Kim Moon-soo, a leading candidate for party leadership, is staging a sit-in at the central party headquarters.
On the 14th, the People Power Party held a meeting of its members at the central party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, to discuss countermeasures against the Special Investigation Team's raid related to Kim Keon-hee. Party members chanted slogans such as 'Stop the raid as a political revenge against democracy' and 'We will protect the member list against the destruction of democracy,' condemning the raid.
Song Eon-seok, chairperson of the emergency response committee and the floor leader of the People Power Party, said, 'It is an atrocious act akin to a burglar invading the central party headquarters while the schedule for the opposition party's convention has already been announced.' He added, 'What the special investigation team is asking for is the personal information of 5 million party members. We cannot help but be enraged.'
He continued, 'Although we have no choice but to endure the 'political knife dance' of the special investigation as the opposition party, I believe that a day of victory will surely come after this arduous time,' and emphasized, 'We will not hand over our lifeline, the party member list and personal information of our members.'
The Special Investigation Team raided the central party headquarters of the People Power Party from 10:30 a.m. the previous day until around 12:40 a.m. the following day. The aim is to investigate allegations regarding the entry of Unification Church members into the People Power Party. According to the People Power Party, the special investigation team demanded ▲ names of party members ▲ resident registration numbers ▲ addresses ▲ contact information ▲ date of joining ▲ types of membership ▲ information on past resignations from the party ▲ payment status of party dues ▲ account numbers for each member's payment of party dues.
The party leadership views the raid as a 'suppression of the opposition party' and discussed plans to visit the special investigation team the previous day. However, considering the joint speech event and heavy rain, the actual visit was canceled. The People Power Party plans to hold an additional meeting of its members on the 18th to establish countermeasures against the special investigation team's investigation.
Kim Moon-soo, a candidate for party leadership, started an indefinite sit-in at the central party headquarters from 11:30 p.m. the previous day. He plans to continue the sit-in until the enforcement of the warrant regarding the member list is suspended. On the same day, it is reported that Chairperson Song Eon-seok remained at the headquarters to guard it after the special investigation team withdrew following a standoff.
On that day, Kim stated at the party headquarters, 'The raid by the special investigation team is an anti-democratic, anti-human rights act that tramples on the freedom of political activities of political parties. It is a barbaric act of plunder that measures our party members' beliefs and consciences with the yardstick of power,' and emphasized, 'We will continue our indefinite sit-in to fully block the destruction of political parties and anti-human rights acts by the Lee Jae-myung regime.'
He added, 'The three special investigations are mere political investigations disguised as investigations and are solely a vanguard force aimed at the destruction of the opposition party,' and emphasized, 'This special investigation contains provisions that allow it to investigate even incidents recognized during the investigation.'
The People Power Party will respond to the special investigation led by Chairperson Song. A party official stated, 'We plan to focus on illuminating the destruction of party democracy and the unfairness of the special investigation's probe centered on the leadership,' adding, 'Demanding the member list unrelated to the investigation is an unconstitutional outrage.'