Ruling and opposition parties clashed sharply over Prosecutor Park Sang-yong's repeated refusal to take the witness oath at a parliamentary hearing investigating the "Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case."
At a hearing of the National Assembly's Special Committee for Fact-Finding on Fabricated Prosecutions by the Yoon Suk Yeol Administration and Dismissal of Indictments held Wednesday, Park refused to take the witness oath for the second time, following his first refusal on January 3. He cited his intention to "prevent the dismissal of charges against President Lee Jae-myung by the special counsel."
Park, who had been summoned as a witness, refused to take the oath while other witnesses complied. He requested an opportunity to explain his reasons to Chairwoman Seo Young-kyo. The chairwoman asked him to submit a written explanation instead, but Park insisted on explaining publicly and refused. Seo ultimately ordered Park to leave the hearing room and wait in a separate location.
Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party said, "A witness may refuse to take the oath if there is concern about criminal prosecution or indictment." He added, "Prosecutor Park has been criminally reported, his duties have been suspended, he is under a travel ban, and he is under inspection." This referred to the right against self-incrimination, which protects individuals from being compelled to make statements that could be used against them in criminal proceedings.
Rep. Na Kyung-won of the PPP also said, "If Prosecutor Park takes the oath and testifies, the Democratic Party will seize on his words to create other narratives, which is why he wants to explain himself. Why are you blocking this?" She added, "Ordering him to leave and confining him to a specific location could constitute the crime of arrest and detention."
In response, Rep. Jeon Yong-gi of the Democratic Party of Korea countered, "Isn't Prosecutor Park acting like the boy who cried wolf?" He continued, "He goes outside and shouts 'wolf!' and then when he comes into the hearing room and is asked to take the oath, he refuses. He is trying to lie with his soul. Why should we listen to such a person's explanation?" Addressing PPP lawmakers, Jeon said, "Last time, you took Prosecutor Park out and held a separate hearing," adding, "It's frustrating that the PPP still sides with the prosecution even after being treated that way by Yoon Suk Yeol."
Chairwoman Seo, a Democratic Party member, also said, "Are the PPP lawmakers who held a separate hearing with Prosecutor Park his representatives?" She added, "The proper thing for members of this special committee to do would be to apologize here for holding a separate hearing and acting as Prosecutor Park's spokesperson."
Before appearing at the National Assembly Wednesday, Park announced his intention to refuse the oath on his social media account. He wrote, "The ultimate purpose of refusing the oath is one thing only: to prevent 'the dismissal of charges against President Lee Jae-myung by the special counsel.'" He added, "A special counsel appointed by the president dismissing charges against the president is no different from the president dismissing charges against himself."
