Civic organizations ask President Lee to apologize for Roh’s death

Posted on : 2009-06-02 12:55 KST Modified on : 2009-06-02 12:55 KST
Talk of a referendum of no confidence in the government spreads, and citizens demand the resignation of Prosecutor General Lim and Minister of Justice Kim
 a week after his suicide death.
a week after his suicide death.

Civic organizations asked President Lee Myung-bak to apologize for the former President Roh Moo-hyun’s death on Monday. They also urged him to dismiss Public Prosecutor General Lim Chae-jin and Minister of Justice Kim Kyung-han.

The Civic Memorial Committee for the Late Former President Roh Moo-hyun issued a statement that said, “We will ask the government to assume political and ethical responsibility for the death of President Roh.” The statement added, “President Lee should apologize to the bereaved family and to the people, and dismiss the Public Prosecutor, the Chief of the Central Investigation Department, and the Minister of Justice who ordered that the investigation take the form of political retaliation by publicizing the investigation’s contents.”

The Committee consists of 58 civic organizations, including the People’s solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice and 4 religious orders.

They also said, “If the government is entitled to talk about national unity and reconciliation, it should be premised that the government should stop its authoritarian use of police and prosecutors.” They pointed out, “Without making efforts to change its methods of governance, national unity cannot be attained, and it will be considered an attempt to use political rhetoric to escape from this crisis.”

They said, “We are trying to determine what our mission is by reflecting on the desire of the deceased who had tried to take the side of democracy and working folks.” They added, “We are encouraging the development of a far-reaching alliance of pan-democratic factions based on the principles of democracy, peace on the Korean Peninsula and economic justice for the poor.”

As a first step, the civic organizations plan to discuss possible actions in an emergency meeting Tuesday. Oh Kwang-jin, a policy coordinator for the Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea said, “We will discuss the calling for a neutral, unified national cabinet and a referendum of no confidence in the government. We are going to suggest a plan to break through this crisis based on the meeting’s outcomes.”

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