Saenuri files suit against opposition lawmaker
The ruling Saenuri Party has filed a lawsuit against Rep. Pyo Chang-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea for unveiling online a list of its lawmakers who oppose impeaching President Park Geun-hye.
The governing party said Sunday that it believed Pyo has violated the Personal Information Protection Act and unlawfully interfered with officers in the execution of their duty. The party said the complaints were submitted to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, Friday.
On Nov. 30, Pyo posted on his Facebook account the names of 16 Saenuri Party l a wmakers, including Reps. Suh Chung-won and Choi Kyung-hwan, claiming they were opposing the impeachment motion led by the opposition parties.
The police officer-turned-lawmaker also posted the names of 112 lawmakers of the governing party, saying they were hesitant about the motion. The names included those who have confronted the scandal-ridden President and vowed to join forces with the opposition parties to pass the motion.
Pyo said he would continue to update the list, saying the public has the right to know.
The three opposition parties submitted a motion at dawn Saturday to impeach Park over the high-profile corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving herself and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.
In the complaint, the ruling party also asked the prosecution to look into an unknown person who disclosed their mobile phone numbers on the social network services.
Following the disclosure, the Saenuri Party lawmakers have been bombarded with phone calls and text messages from people lodging vehement protests against their alleged disagreement with the impeachment motion.
The lawmakers said such phone calls and text messages at all hours were severely interfering with the performance of their duties.
The ruling party lawmakers reportedly raised the possibility that Pyo conspired with an unknown person, given that their phone numbers were leaked at around the same time as Pyo’s posting.
Pyo denied this, saying he was unrelated to that person. He also said he produced the list of lawmakers based on their official details published in the press.