hankyoreh

Mar. 9. Park went straight to the hospital from Seoul Air Base after returning from a four-country trip to the Middle East. (provided by the Blue House)

The ruling Saenuri Party (NFP) issued calls on Mar. 9 for swift passage of anti-terror legislation and the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean Peninsula.

The move comes in the wake of a knife attack against US ambassador Mark Lippert, which the ruling party has called an example of “pro-North Korea terrorism.” The incident now appears to be offering an opportunity for the ruling party to pursue longstanding but controversial goals with internal and national security.

Referring to the attack at a supreme council meeting on Mar. 9, Saenuri leader Kim Moo-sung declared that the “best approach to terrorism is to prevent it from happening in the first place.”

“It’s important to instill the belief that the Republic of Korea is a country where terrorism is fundamentally impossible,” Kim continued.

“Now is a time when we absolutely need the anti-terrorism legislation now pending in the National Assembly,” he added.

Lee Byung-suk, another Saenuri lawmaker who co-sponsored the legislation with 72 other lawmakers on Feb. 16, voiced a similar message at a press conference at the National Assembly the same day.

“We need to focus all our energies on passing the terrorism prevention bill and making sure that there is no second terrorist attack like the one on Ambassador Mark Lippert,” he said.

Anti-terrorism bills have been sponsored a number of times since the early ’00s, but have been blocked over concerns about overexpansion of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), abuse of public authority, and monitoring of civilians. Indeed, Lee‘s legislation would install an integrated terrorism response center under the NIS director and allow the collection and investigation of financial and communications data on members of terrorist groups and people for whom “substantial grounds” exist to suspect possible future terrorist acts. The reference to “substantial grounds” in particular has many critics worried about excessive vagueness that could give the NIS room for arbitrary enforcement.

“This anti-terrorism legislation stands a strong chance of being abused as a tool for suppressing political opponents at a time when no plans have been offered for reforming and controlling the NIS after it lost public confidence with its internet posts,” said Konkuk University law school professor Han Sang-hee, referring to organized online interference by NIS employees in the 2012 presidential election.

“The mere fact that the President and ruling party are ordering an investigation into the ‘ones behind the attack’ against the US ambassador, before any investigation findings have come out, is enough to show why this legislation should not be passed,” Han said.

Oh Chang-ik, secretary-general of the group Citizens’ Solidarity for Human Rights, echoed Han’s concerns.

“If the NIS gets to decide what constitutes terrorism, even a simple assault could be classified as terrorism,” Oh said.

“If the law is passed under the current circumstances, the NIS’s power will only grow, and monitoring of civilians will be done without hesitation in the name of ‘terror prevention,’” he added.

The Saenuri Party also announced plans to decide a party policy sometime this month on the deployment of THAAD, a US-led high-altitude missile defense system. The possible deployment of THAAD on the Korean Peninsula is already triggering a strong outcry from China and Russia. Once the ruling party reaches a definite position on the issue, the administration will have less room to maneuver on a sensitive issue involving Northeast Asian diplomatic and security interests.

Meanwhile, the ruling party continued accusing its political opposition of being pro-North Korea. During a meeting of the first and second-term lawmakers’ group Morning Voice on Mar. 9, Saenuri lawmaker Ha Tae-keung went after New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) chairman Moon Jae-in for past remarks calling the postponement of the wartime operational control transfer from the US a “forfeit of military sovereignty.”

“Mr .Moon may have talked like Kim Moo-sung, but his ideas were more like Kim Ki-jong,” Ha said, referring to the individual who attacked Lippert.

Ha also drew accusations of ideological baiting with other remarks.

“If you look at Mr. Kim’s blog on Woori Madang, lawmakers from the NPAD are supporting cooperating with Kim Ki-jong,” he said during the meeting.

“We need to independently investigate what relationship exists between the NPAD and Kim Ki-jong and report it to the public,” he added.

Lee Jun-han, a political science and international studies professor at Incheon National University, said the Blue House and ruling party “appear to see the attack as a great way of rallying their forces after being put on the defensive over the Prime Minister and Blue House nomination issues, the uproar over year-end tax filing, and the controversy over unelected officials in the Bue House.”

“With the battle spreading over to the anti-terror legislation and the THAAD issue, we could be seeing a red-baiting campaign through the by-elections in April, or even next year’s general election,” Lee added.

By Kim Kyung-wook, staff reporter

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