At the first interpellation session of the regular National Assembly under the Lee Jae-myung administration, the rival parties clashed head-on, invoking "eradication of insurrection" and "one-party dictatorship," respectively.
The National Assembly began interpellations of the government for four days starting on the 15th. Starting with politics that day, the sessions will proceed in the order of foreign affairs, unification, and national security (16th); economy (17th); and education, society, and culture (18th). At the political affairs session that day, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young, Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho, and Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-joong appeared.
The Democratic Party of Korea pressed the People Power Party under the banner of eradicating insurrection. Park Sung-joon, a Democratic Party lawmaker who posed the first question, said of the Dec. 3 martial law, "The Yoon Suk-yeol administration sought fascism," adding, "Fascism is divide-and-conquer opinion manipulation, a state mobilization system based on a specific faction, mobilization of state power agencies, and press control."
Park said, "The list for assassinating and rounding up politicians that appears in Noh Sang-won's notebook includes (Prime Minister Kim). If the insurrection had succeeded, the prime minister would not have survived and would have been tortured and left to wander the afterlife," adding, "That is because the fundamental nature of totalitarianism is the elimination of political opponents and detention, confinement, and torture."
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok replied, "The wording may differ, but that is basically how I see it," adding, "I largely agree."
Lee Hae-sik, a Democratic Party lawmaker, asked Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho whether he had reviewed dissolving the People Power Party. Lee said, "Have you reviewed the legal requirements and procedures for dissolving a political party through the Unified Progressive Party case?" adding, "The schedule and the question of guilt or innocence in criminal trials are separate from a petition for a constitutional review to dissolve a party." The Unified Progressive Party was dissolved in Dec. 2014 after, during the Park Geun-hye administration, the Ministry of Justice petitioned the Constitutional Court for a ruling to dissolve the party as unconstitutional and the court accepted it.
The Minister said, "Because this is a matter currently under investigation by the special counsel team on insurrection, it is difficult to pin down the exact facts," but added, "At this stage, it does not appear appropriate; however, because the system for petitioning to dissolve a party is the last resort to protect the democratic constitutional order, I believe it must be considered strictly. Once the case is concluded, I will make a comprehensive judgment."
The People Power Party, by contrast, sharply criticized what it called a one-party dictatorship by the Lee Jae-myung administration, citing the insurrection-only trial panel and calls for Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae to resign. Lim Lee-ja, a People Power Party lawmaker, said, "The Lee Jae-myung administration is a 'change-lawyers-change-jobs' administration," adding, "It gave posts to all the lawyers who defended me (the president)." Lim said, "Personnel appointments by the current administration are 'invoice appointments,'" adding, "The invoice presented by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions leads to the Minister of Employment and Labor; the invoice presented by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union leads to the Minister of Education; the invoice presented by the Rebuilding Korea Party leads to Cho Kuk's pardon; the invoice presented by the 'gae-ttal' leads to Yoon Mi-hyang's pardon. I worry that a president with many vulnerabilities will end up spending all five years just repaying political debt."
Shin Sung-beom, a People Power Party lawmaker, also said, "It is not that an insurrection is underway; in a way, the hard-line elements of the Democratic Party keep stoking a psychological civil war by hyping insurrection," adding, "The dictatorship of the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party regime is in progress. I judge that it is not an insurrection that is underway, but that the Republic of Korea is moving toward a one-party dictatorship."