Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Friday. [Yonhap]
Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Friday. [Yonhap]

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok on Friday called on the People Power Party to stop what Kim described as irresponsible agitation and join discussions on reforming the National Election Commission, following a special prosecutor team's public verification of local election ballots and the end of a protest blockade at Olympic Park.

"No institutional progress or restoration of public trust can be expected from endlessly repeating election-fraud conspiracy theories," Kim said at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly that day, urging the PPP to engage in talks on producing a reform plan for the NEC.

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said Thursday, after the special prosecutor team completed its public verification and ballot boxes from the June 3 local elections in Seoul's Songpa area were removed and transported, that "a flood of evidence of election fraud has poured out" and that the party would "fight again alongside the people to expose the NEC's wrongdoing."

In response, Kim said the special prosecutor team should "transparently reveal the full picture of the mismanagement of the June 3 local elections through a swift and thorough investigation," adding that "the essence of this matter is a violation of citizens' right to political participation."

Kim went on to say that "public trust in election administration as a whole must be restored through fact-finding, punishment of those responsible, and measures to prevent recurrence." The Democratic Party, Kim added, would "protect citizens' right to political participation like iron and defend South Korea's democracy through thorough fact-finding and fundamental NEC reform."


bigroot@heraldcorp.com