Ads for Constitutional Revision Under Legal Attack

The current controversy over the government’s advertisement about the proposed constitutional amendment is being exacerbated as a lawyer group has attacked it by asking the National Election Commission (NEC) for an authoritative interpretation and is considering seeking prosecution.

“The Lawyer for Citizens,” co-represented by Lee Seok-hyeon and Kang Hun, asked the NEC for an authoritative interpretation last week, saying, “The government conducted illicit campaigns that violate the National Referendum Act (NRA) by sending advertising e-mails and having public discussions.”

Kang Hun, co-representative of the lawyer group, said during an interview with Dong-a Ilbo yesterday, “After examining the National Referendum Act, we concluded that the government’s advertisements over the proposed revision of the constitution violated articles 26 and 118 that define the legal campaign period before a national referendum.”

Kang also said that, “It is not the NEC but a court that has an authority to make a final decision over whether the government violated the law or not,” adding, “Even though we haven’t been informed of the results of the NEC’s interpretation, in case the NEC concludes it was a lawful action, we will consider seeking the court’s decision by prosecuting the government.”

In fact, regarding the legal campaign period for a national referendum, Article 26 of the NRA says, “Campaigns shall be allowed from the day of announcement of the national referendum to a day before the election.”

However, the NEC already announced its authoritative interpretation, saying, “We haven’t found anything illegal about the Government Information Agency’s advertising activities over the amendment.

The NEC explained that, “It is unreasonable to see the current government’s advertisement as election campaign because it is still up in the air whether the referendum is held or not.”

Regarding this, Na Kyung-won, spokeswoman of the opposition Grand National Party, said yesterday that, “It is an appropriation of national budgets to spend more than 200 million won in advertisements that support the president’s political activities,” adding, “It is the president who takes responsibility.”

Na also added that, “The GIA’s involvement in the advertisements violates Article 28 of the NRA that bans agents who don’t have party membership from conducting election campaigns,” adding, “The GNP is seriously considering taking legal actions against the government.”

leon@donga.com myzodan@donga.com