Shin Dong-wook, senior supreme council member of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), expressed frustration on Sunday that media and public attention remains fixated on internal party divisions while the opposition Democratic Party pushes through controversial legislation.
"Laws that could shake the foundations of Korean history are being passed several at a time, yet all the discussion centers on a photo of Rep. Bae Hyun-jin sitting behind party leader Jang Dong-hyuk at a recent general assembly," Shin said during an appearance on Maeil Shinmun's YouTube channel. "It's disheartening to see things going wrong this way."
He urged the public to pay attention to the ongoing filibuster. "I hope people will take interest in what is being discussed over the coming days," he said.
The Democratic Party held a unilateral plenary session on Saturday to advance a third commercial law amendment mandating companies to cancel treasury shares. The PPP responded with a filibuster. The opposition plans to follow with three judicial reform bills.
Shin criticized the proposed "law distortion crime" provision. "It would punish judges based on subjective criteria for distorting the law. How can fair trials be conducted under such a standard?" he said.
On the proposed law allowing appeals of court rulings, Shin said the measure would be ineffective and wasteful. "It would only drain state finances and plunge citizens into litigation hell, given the enormous costs of lawsuits," he said.
"If they want a four-tier court system, there should be logical justification. But this appears to be nothing more than an attempt to give President Lee Jae-myung another shot at trial," Shin added.
The senior lawmaker warned that expanding the Supreme Court bench would undermine the separation of powers. "From an ordinary citizen's perspective, adding justices to speed up trials might seem reasonable," he said. "But if the bench is expanded by 26, President Lee would appoint 22 of them."
"Can the court operate objectively when the president appoints 22 out of 26 justices?" Shin asked. "This is extremely dangerous and would lead to the executive branch exerting excessive influence over the composition of the judiciary, violating the constitutional principle of separation of powers."