Shin Dong-wook, Senior Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party (PPP), said on Sunday that he finds it "regrettable that the media and public opinion seem focused only on our party's division while bad laws are being passed under the Democratic Party's leadership."
"Laws that could shake the history of the Republic of Korea are being passed several at a time each day," Shin said during an appearance on Maeil Shinmun's YouTube channel. "Yet at our recent general assembly, the entire day's discussion centered on a single photo of Rep. Bae Hyun-jin sitting behind party leader Chang Dong-hyuk. Watching this, I feel something has gone wrong."
"I hope people will pay attention to what is being said during the filibuster over the coming days," he added.
The Democratic Party of Korea held a unilateral plenary session at the National Assembly on Saturday to process a third commercial law amendment mandating companies to cancel treasury shares. The PPP responded with a filibuster. The Democrats plan to next take up a "judicial reform" package of three bills.
Regarding the proposed "law distortion crime," Shin said: "This would punish people for distorting the law based on subjective standards. How can proper trials be conducted?"
On the appeals court bill, he criticized: "It will have no effect whatsoever. It will only waste national finances. Even from an individual perspective, a single lawsuit costs an enormous amount. There is concern this could plunge citizens into litigation hell."
"If they still want a four-tier court system, there should be logical reasoning," Shin continued. "This is difficult to understand as anything other than an attempt to get one more trial for President Lee Jae-myung's cases."
Shin emphasized that the Supreme Court justice expansion bill would shake the foundations of separation of powers, a fundamental democratic value.
"From ordinary citizens' perspective, they might think: why oppose adding Supreme Court justices to speed up trials?" he said. "But if we add 26 justices now, 22 of them will be appointed by President Lee."
"With the president appointing 22 out of 26 justices, can it really operate objectively?" Shin asked. "This is extremely dangerous. Ultimately, it will lead to a structure where the executive branch exerts excessive influence over the composition of the judiciary, undermining the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution."