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The chairwoman of the main opposition Grand National Party, Park Geun-hye, on Monday accused the government of having ¡°lost its reason¡± in announcing a plan to reform the prosecution she said was motivated by spite over the resignation of the prosecutor general.
Park told reporters her party was wise to the reasons why the justice minister gave the rare order to the prosecutor general that prompted him to step down.
She suggested it was telling the minister chose to exercise his prerogative in the case of Prof. Kang Jeong-koo, threatened with arrest under the controversial National Security Law for pro-Pyongyang remarks, when there were hundreds of cases where he could equally have insisted on the principle of using detention only as a last resort.
"This is not a decision solely made by the justice minister. The presidential office, the government and the ruling party, in other words the entire state, have been mobilized to protect and save a person who challenges and denies the country's system,¡± she said. Conservative critics believe the academic¡¯s remarks posit a direct challenge to South Korea¡¯s liberal Constitution.
¡°They are talking about human rights in dealing with the issue. But the human rights of 40 million Korean people will be in danger if the country¡¯s democratic system is threatened with collapse,¡± she said. ¡°Is the president willing to protect the country¡¯s democratic system? Or does he intend to gradually destroy it? The president should make it clear how he will handle similar cases in the future.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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