Park Heong-jun, the People Power Party's candidate for Busan Mayor, has launched a street campaign condemning the Democratic Party of Korea's so-called "prosecution withdrawal special counsel bill" ahead of the June 3 local elections. Park is framing the Democratic Party's push for the special counsel as an "infringement on judicial authority," focusing on rallying conservative voters and reinforcing a narrative of checking the ruling power.
Park conducted relay picket protests targeting morning commuters along major roads in Dong-gu, Jung-gu, Seo-gu and Yeongdo-gu districts on Tuesday morning, beginning in Dong-gu. "Granting a special prosecutor appointed by the president the authority to cancel the president's own trial is an unprecedented infringement on judicial authority in constitutional history," he said. "This is nothing more than a 'crime-erasing special counsel bill' in which those in power delete their own crimes."
"Trials related to President Lee Jae-myung have already been suspended during his presidential term, so there is no disruption to state affairs," Park said. "The Democratic Party pushing forward a special counsel bill that includes the authority to withdraw prosecutions during the local election period is an attempt to block judicial accountability even after he leaves office at its source."
Park also said, "The president granting himself a self-pardon and neutralizing the court's function of discovering substantive truth is a dangerous idea that goes beyond the privatization of power and shakes the constitutional order." He stressed, "The People Power Party will fight to the end alongside Busan citizens to protect liberal democracy and judicial justice."
Park's camp plans to continue morning commute campaigns and street rallies across Busan, focusing on spreading opposition to the special counsel bill.
