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S.Korea's pro-DPRK political party dismissed in constitutional ruling

Source: Xinhua | December 19, 2014, Friday | Online Edition

SOUTH Korea's constitutional court ruled Friday that a minor political party, which has been considered as a blind follower of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), should be dismissed.

All five lawmakers of the left-leaning Unified Progressive Party (UPP) will lose their parliamentary seats, according to the nationally televised ruling read by Chief Justice Park Han-cheol.

Eight judges among nine favored the dismissal, with only one against it. The party will be disbanded right away, and any alternative political party to the UPP will be banned from being organized.

The Justice Ministry submitted its petition for the dismissal in November last year after it was passed through the Cabinet meeting. It was the first time since 1988 when the court was set up in the country that the government called for a political party disbandment.

The unprecedented dismissal was triggered by Lee Seok-ki, former lawmaker of the UPP who was found guilty of instigating an armed rebellion in case of an inter-Korean war and violating the National Security Law. The 53-year-old was arrested in September last year on charges of conspiring with members of a secret organization.

Lee secretly met with the members, plotting to destroy infrastructure such as railways and communication lines if the inter-Korean war breaks out. During the gathering, they sang the DPRK's military march songs, breaching the National Security Law.

Lee became the first lawmaker to face detention on treason charges while in office. He was the second incumbent lawmaker who faces conviction on sedition charges. In 1980, late President Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death on the same charges.

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