Ruling party should stop hampering investigation on nuclear power plant

Two public officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy were placed under arrest on Friday for deleting reporting documents to Cheong Wa Dae which led to the early shutdown of Wolseong 1. The court decided that there was a high possibility of organized destruction of evidence when they went to the office late at night, a day before the interview with an auditor from the Board of Audit and Inspection in December last year, to delete 444 related files. 　

The ruling party has been vehemently against the inspection of the Board of Audit and Inspection followed by the prosecution’s inspection on nuclear power plants and said, “It was a serious abuse of power from the prosecution that is trying to affect main government policies.” And it has been arguing that the reform of the prosecution must be pushed on and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol who has led the abuse of prosecuting authority must resign. The ruling party believes that so-called “political prosecutors” are hampering nuclear-free policy that President Moon Jae-in pledged in the presidential election and promoted as main policy after he took office. 　

The court said the two officials engaged in illegal activities by destroying important documents produced in the process of carrying out the government policy and interrupted the investigation of the Board of Audit and Investigation and have the concern of tampering with evidence. The prosecution investigation started when the BAI requested investigation on the destruction of documents. It is a responsibility of inspection agencies to investigate why they hurriedly destroyed documents in bulk on weekend and who is behind it. 　

Pledges and policies must be enforced within the legal boundary in constitutional nations. Condoning illegal activities just because they were for the government policies, which reflect what citizens want as they were pledged in the presidential election is an act of destroying legalism. The ruling party says the prosecution tries to step onto the president, but in fact, it is an outdated understanding in which they put political power above the law. 　

Some ruling party members even said the court’s arrest warrant was an abuse of law enforcement authority. “It is regrettable that the court sided with the BAI and the prosecution to corner up the administration,” said Rep. Woo Won-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea on Facebook, adding that it was an abuse of power. It is a typical partisan logic through which all institutions going against the administration are condemned. The recent alienation of the public sentiment comes from the ruling party’s attitude of turning a blind eye to legalism, the foundation of democracy, while saying that they led democratization of Korea. It should act like a “ruling” party that can distinguish the difference between the legitimacy of policy and illegal activities, instead of threatening the prosecution.