Uri Party Chairman Lee Bu-young Holds Press Interview on National Security Law Abolishment

Uri Party Chairman Lee Bu-young said on September 10, “We see that the abolishment of the National Security Law will lay the foundation for North Korea to eventually take reciprocal measures (such as abolishing the Workers’ Party Covenant).”

Chairman Lee held a special press interview during his visit to Gwangju while he attended the opening ceremony of Gwangju Biennale. “The gap between the national powers of South and North Korea has already been widened enough that the competition is meaningless,” said Lee. “The law has been a symbol of the Cold War era, and it’s time for Korea to enter a new era with definitive dominance through a new legal system after the abolishment of the law.”

Chairman Lee’s remark was interpreted that the party has plans to demand North Korea of measures to revise the Workers’ Party Covenant and its criminal law after the National Security Law abolishment.

“We, as a party, decided to start an era of a new detente in the Korean Peninsula and relieve the people from security threats through abolishing the National Security Law and devising a new law or strengthening the criminal law instead,” said Lee. “We will make up the final plan through late September by collecting the public opinions.”

Regarding the remark made by Chairman Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party of “Disarmament of Security,” Chairman Lee responded, “It is not an attitude of a responsible politician to incite rashly the people’s sense of uncertainties about security, and the remark even distorted the facts,” adding, “Those who are shaken and feeling insecure are the conservative forces from the Cold War era, and Korea will be much more stable after this.”

Also, in regard to the declaration of the elder seniorities, he claimed, “We hope that they don’t judge today with standards coming from the Cold War era when they were active in their positions.”

Prior to this, Chairman Lee visited the National 5/18 Cemetery and wrote a message in the guest book that said, “I hereby pronounce my resolution to 5/18 revered spirits to abolish the National Security Law and to lead our county into a democratic and peaceful unification.”

Spokesperson of the GNP Lim Tae-hee responded, “He is devaluing the position of preserving the National Security Law, which is supported by 80 percent of the people, calling it “anachronistic and a death-or-life attitude,” and criticized, “It can only be seen as a repetition of what the president told him to say.”

Min-Hyuk Park mhpark@donga.com