hankyoreh

The Grand National Party really is trying to legislate a procedure for class action lawsuits by people who suffer losses because of street protests. It says it is going to have it on the law books within the end of the current regular session of the National Assembly. The GNP has a majority in the Assembly, and there is nothing to keep it from passing laws that crush democracy whenever it so desires.

By their very nature, public gatherings and protests always unintentionally inconvenience someone. They cause traffic congestion, and force you to endure people shouting things you don’t agree with. The reason Korea and many other countries guarantee the freedom to protest in public anyway is because once you start limiting that you end up suffocating democracy. Democracy is based on the spirit of tolerance. One day you have to endure and listen to views different than your own so that tomorrow others will listen to what you have to say even when they disagree with you. Only when it works this way can you have a society in which order is maintained and that operates harmoniously despite an outpouring of diverse opinion.

The GNP’s attempt to enact a way for people to file class action lawsuits against protesters is a direct challenge to the basic principles of democracy. Instead of encouraging members of society to listen to the views of others, it is encouraging people not to put up with it when someone just barely tramples on their interests and encourages them to fight. If you let society turn into a place where everyone fights everyone else, the tolerance on which democracy is based disappears and all that remains is unchecked authority. It is utterly obvious that it is the candlelight protests the GNP has in mind with these class action lawsuit procedures. It merely wants to enjoy the fruits of having citizens fight each other with lawsuits since the administration of President Lee Myung-bak has no justification for trying to gain control of popular resistance with physical means.

The whole concept of class action lawsuits was devised so that citizens and consumers could fight larger corporations for their rightful rights. The typical American example would be the lawsuit over the defoliant Agent Orange. People engaging in public assemblies and protests, however, are the weak in society or are regular citizens for whom legal procedures are not enough to protect the rights of. Any system of class action lawsuits designed to limit the ability of the weak in society to claim their rights is out of step with the original intent behind allowing class action lawsuits in the first place.

The GNP should stop trying to do this. If it is a political party that supports democracy what it should really be doing is amending the current law on public protests to get rid of the parts that can be used to limit freedom of assembly and protest. There should be no difference between the progressive and conservative parties when it comes to maintaining the principles of democracy.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]