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second from the right) and other party members hold a press conference in Seoul Plaza outside City Hall in central Seoul

By Park Byong-su and Kim Jeong-pil, staff reporters

The government submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court on Nov. 5 to force the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) to disband. This is the first time that a constitutional government in South Korea has asked that a political party be disbanded.

With the government trying to disband a third party that is currently represented by six lawmakers in the National Assembly who were elected by the public, the petition has already caused considerable political and legal controversy.

At the cabinet meeting that took place on the morning of Nov. 5, the government brought up the petition as an urgent agenda item, and the cabinet approved it.

After receiving the electronic approval of President Park Geun-hye, who is currently on a tour of Western Europe, the Ministry of Justice immediately filed the documents with the Constitutional Court.

The government explained that this petition is in accordance with Article 8 of the Korean Constitution. Article 8 states that, when the objective or activity of a political party violates the basic democratic order, the government can petition the Constitutional Court to disband that party, and the court will decide whether or not to do so.

During the administration of Rhee Syngman, the Progressive Party under Jo Bong-am (who was executed on charges of being a spy in 1959 but found innocent upon appeal in 2011), was forced to disband in 1958 on the direct order of the government.

However, this is the first time that the government had attempted to disband a political party since an article about political parties was added to the Korean Constitution after Park Chung-hee‘s coup on May 16, 1962.

Experts criticized this petition as an attempt to revive the authoritarian government of the 1970s. “Although the UPP situation is itself only of symbolic value, it must be seen as being part of a larger trend,” said Seo Jung-seok, professor emeritus of Korean History at Sungkyunkwan University.

“This trend includes an explosion of McCarthyism and anti-Communism and the manipulation of politics to create a security state. It can be viewed as part of a series of regressive recent actions, such as leaking documents about the Northern Limit Line (NLL), stripping the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) of its legal status, the conservative bent of history textbooks, and the National Intelligence Service’s attempt to sway the election and interfere with the prosecutors’ investigation,” Professor Seo said.

Ahn Byung-wook, professor emeritus in Korean history at the Catholic University of Korea, is reminded of the series of fabricated conspiracies to overthrow the government in the 1970s. “In the 70s, they used desperate methods such as martial law and emergency measures, but today they reject the standard interpretations of legal provisions and come up with farfetched readings. Authoritarian government is back, but this time it’s wearing the trappings of the law,” Professor Ahn said.

Han Hong-gu, professor of Korean history at Sungkonghoe University defined the government’s appeal to the court as the “death knell of party politics.”

“The military-led government of Japan dissolved political parties and set up the Taisei Yokusankai (the Imperial Rule Assistance Association). Former Korean President Park Chung-hee did much the same when he forced the head of the New Democratic Party to step down in 1979,” Professor Han said. “The current administration has not been in office very long, but it already is taking action that is more characteristic of the end of Park Chung-hee’s administration,” he added.

“They might not show it, but the people are angry about this. But the divisions in the progressive camp have reduced the number of people who are willing to fight. The entire progressive establishment needs to apologize for this state of affairs,” Han said.

The reactions of politicians have been divided along party lines.

Lee Jung-hee is the head of the UPP, the party that the government wants to see disbanded. At a press conference held at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall, Lee said, “This is unprecedented political oppression of a third party that is represented in the National Assembly. It cannot be allowed to happen.”

“The petition is an official declaration of the 2013 version of the Yushin dictatorship. It’s also the 10th emergency measure, and the first since emergency measures were done away with in 1979,” the party leader said.

Kim Kwan-young, chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, expressed concern about the developments at a press briefing. “Petitioning for a constitutional review of a political party ought to take place after a comprehensive assessment of how mature our democracy is, how sophisticated Koreans’ political sentiment is, and whether or not the electoral system is operating properly,” Kim said.

“Setting aside the effect this will have on the United Progressive Party, this case could rock the foundation of democratic order in Korea,” said Lee Jeong-mi, spokesperson for the Justice Party. “The case must be handled with a high degree of caution.”

The ruling Saenuri Party (NFP) responded quite differently. “As we see it, the government had no other choice if it was to protect the constitutional values and social order of the country, and we respect the government’s decision,” said Yoo Il-ho, spokesperson for the Saenuri Party.

“We hope that officials at the Ministry of Justice will make thorough preparations so that they can take whatever administrative steps may be necessary in the future.”

“Once the petition to disband the party is filed at the Constitutional Court, we urge the court to carefully review it according to the Constitution and legal principles. We hope that the court will come to a swift decision in order to prevent any further confusion and to preserve the constitutional values and the legal order of Korea,” Yu added.

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