The opposition`s bid to abolish the Nat`l Security Law

Lee Seok-gi and Kim Jae-yeon, lawmakers-elect of the minor opposition United Progressive Party, have officially entered parliament Wednesday with the 19th National Assembly beginning its term. Though the left-leaning party has expelled them, the two have kept their parliamentary seats. Prosecutors will investigate their alleged election rigging and judges will hear the related case. But voiding their election will prove difficult due to lack of relevant regulations. Disciplinary regulations of the National Assembly cannot punish a lawmaker for an act committed before he or she obtained a seat in parliament. The lone way to get rid of the two pro-North Korea lawmakers a two-thirds vote by lawmakers.

Park Jie-won, interim head of the main opposition Democratic United Party, Lee and Kim to voluntarily resign in a news conference Wednesday, citing the considerable time needed for the parliamentary expulsion process. Lee and Kim rejected the request and seem determined to hold on to their seats. Park should clearly announce that he will pursue their expulsion from the National Assembly if they refuse to resign. Former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, who is the frontrunner in the main opposition party¡¯s race for chairman, said, "Lawmakers who are liable to misuse national secrets should not be assigned to major standing committees." By apparently succumbing to public opinion, the Democratic United Party seems to agree on the exclusion of pro-North Korea lawmakers from the National Assembly`s defense and foreign affairs committees.

Despite this, fundamental problems remain unresolved. The Democratic United Party joined hands with the progressive party ahead of last month`s parliamentary elections and jointly sought to scrap the National Security Law. The pledge on "abolition of anti-democratic evil laws suppressing human rights, including the National Security Law" is among 20 pledges included in the joint policy agreement reached by both parties. The democratic party must make it clear if it will stick to this promise down the road.

Former Prosecutor-General Kim Jong-bin told The Dong-A Ilbo, "Under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the (then ruling) Uri Party tried to neutralize the application of the National Security Law after failing to scrap it." Kim resigned from his post in 2006 after a botched attempt to indict former Dongguk University professor Kang Jeong-ku on the charge of violating the security law. At the time, then Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae ordered Kim to indict Kang without detention by invoking his right to command investigations. Kim said, "Something that had been accumulated from the Roh Moo-hyun government has bore fruit due to the United Progressive Party incident." This comment sounds convincing.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism in Eastern Europe, left-wing parties in the West found that they had nothing to lean on. Pro-North Korea forces in South Korea, however, are being covered by North Korea. As long as the North constitutes the force that attempts to capsize the South Korean government, the South needs the security law. If the Democratic United Party wants to be recognized by the people as a party eligible to take power, it should limit the activities of pro-North lawmakers and take the lead in driving those implicated in election rigging out of the National Assembly. The main opposition party should also abandon its agreement on the abolition of the National Security Law.