[News fighting] "Boo Seung-chan, I'm skeptical that the military event is meaningful...The military parade reminds me of a dictatorship."

[YTN Radio News Fighting Bae Seunghee]
□ Broadcasting: FM 94.5 (07:15 - 09:00)

□ Broadcast date and time: October 4, 2024 (Fri)
□ Host: Attorney Bae Seung-hee
□ Cast: Bo Seung-chan, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

[YTN Radio <News Fighting, Bae Seunghee]> Please reveal that it's about the interview.

◆ Attorney Bae Seung-hee (hereinafter referred to as Bae Seung-hee): I'm Bae Seung-hee from News Fighting. The third part starts. As representative Lee Jae-myung's judicial risks become visible, the sense of crisis within the Democratic Party is growing. In this regard, we will talk through the phone of Representative Bu Seung-chan of the Democratic Party of Korea. Are you here?

◇Boo Seung-chan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (hereinafter referred to as Bu Seung-chan): Yes, hello.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes, let me ask you this first. On the 2nd, a ceremony was held to mark the 76th anniversary of the founding of the country. With the city marching, our military unveiled strategic weapons such as Hyunmoo 5, which are called monster missiles. How did you see it?

◇Boo Seung-chan: Wasn't this a very mammoth event with 5,000 troops and 3,400 weapons and military equipment? Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to the Korean soldiers who prepared this. However, I would like to say that I am skeptical about how meaningful these events are. In reality, it's the same in the United States. In a democracy, there are many evaluations that the military parade itself is reminiscent of the image of a totalitarian state and also of a dictatorship. In the case of the United States, the Trump administration actually decided to hold a military parade in Washington, DC. It was not practically achieved because experts from all walks of life and the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed opposition. So, mainly in authoritarian and dictatorships, China and Russia are called Victory Day, and in North Korea, the foundation day of the People's Army, various anniversaries, and the anniversary of the anniversary. It's a large-scale parade like this at the 5th and 10th anniversary. From that point of view, I'd like to say that it's a little outdated. So, even if it's not necessarily like that, it's definitely possible to show off force and then send out a message to prepare for the North Korean nuclear threat, so I wondered if I had to go this far.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes. By the way. This morning, Kim Jong-un responded overwhelmingly to President Yoon, a nuclear power. He is a man of no integrity. And he threatened that he could not survive in the event of a military conflict. Kim Yo Jong is... This Hyeonmu 5 is a hideous object that has been faked with absurd sophistry that it is equivalent to a tactical nuclear weapon level. Didn't it work if you saw this reaction when you said it was a useless and bulky weapon?

◇ Boo Seung-chan: Well, apart from the effect. I think it's going to a very dangerous level. Basically, leaders of each country considerably refrain from expressing the end and the extinction of the other country, and if they have to do so, they sometimes do it through defense or something like that. It sends out messages, and these things are what Yoon Suk Yeol's president brought up the apocalypse theory and Chairman Kim Jong-un's brought up the extinction theory, which is quite strong. That's why leaders always have to be careful about these comments. This part is also revealed in an empirical study that studied war for 2,000 years. Many studies show that when national leaders make hostile remarks in mutual distrust, the possibility of war increases considerably and leads to actual war. So, in North Korea, of course, I saw Kim Yo Jong's statement and Kim Jong Un's remarks.It is difficult to agree on whether this has worked or not.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes. How do you rate the North Korean military parade?

◇Boo Seung-chan: If you look at the North Korean military parade, it's quite a frequent occurrence. And now it's a constant pattern of authoritarian states. In our case, during the Chun Doo-hwan administration or the Park Chung-hee administration, armed demonstrations took place through these ceremonies when they were quite authoritarian countries. After democratization, the ceremony itself was now held on a small scale after enjoying some festivals in the military, raising morale, watching cultural performances, and then celebrations. Now, in the case of North Korea, it is a very authoritarian country and now it is a country that is not based on rationality, so there is a lot of concern about that.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: As you said, it's a democratic country, but doesn't France also have a very big military parade?

◇Boo Seung-chan: I think you're mistaken. France doesn't do much, but here is also a case of the 100th anniversary, the 70th anniversary of the French Revolution, which is quite memorable. I did it once in 2017. So at that time, we held the biggest festival to celebrate the French Revolution. That's how it went. We also had one 10 years ago in 2013 and then two in a row under the Yoon Suk Yeol government. France doesn't do it every year or on a special anniversary. It's a 10-year cycle or a 20-year cycle only for the days that the people can celebrate.

◆Bae Seung-Hee: In North Korea, Kim Jong Un is referring to President Yoon Suk Yeol as a Yoon Suk Yeol puppet, saying, "I was in vain." What do you think about the remarks made by the two Kim Jong Un brothers and sisters?

◇ Bu Seung-chan: That's quite a bad comment. The same goes for filth balloons, and it is quite bad and negative that such expressions of the leader of the other country are made at the top leadership level. That's what I think. It is true that he has not only said that about former presidents Yoon Suk Yeol, but also said and said things he could not say about past presidents.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Representative Lee Jae-myung did not appear at all at the Armed Forces Day ceremony. In response, Rep. Kim Ki-hyun called for an apology, saying it was an insult to our Armed Forces. What is the reason for Chairman Lee Jae-myung's absence and how do you rate lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun's remarks that he said were an insult to the South Korean military?

◇Boo Seung-chan: First of all, it's an insult for attending a ceremony. After I became a member of the National Assembly, before that, when I was a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, I went to a lot of painful memorial ceremonies such as Marineon after the West Sea Defense Day. I think it's a really wrong expression to express or express it in such a way that it's an insult to the Armed Forces just because you didn't go to the ceremony. Then, when former CEO Kim Ki-hyun or I went to another event, the party leaders did not participate in the power of the people at all. Then isn't that really an insult to the military? In this way, he's just a political comment. I would like to say that those parts are wrong and wrong comments on that part because the floor leader, especially the floor leader, attended the Democratic Party.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes. But CEO Lee Jae-myung is... I didn't even attend Seohae Suho Day for two consecutive years. What do you think of this?

◇ Boo Seung-chan: I don't know. In that regard, representatives of the Democratic Party of Korea, representative Lee Jae-myung, do go. After the representatives went, in practice, the candidates for the leadership of the People's Power Party came to the West Sea Defense Day or the party leadership election. And now I didn't attend the Marineon memorial service at all. That's how I didn't come here anymore. It didn't come over there. That's why it's an insult to the Armed Forces. To be honest, I think this is a reductionist way of thinking.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes. I'm asking because you said you went to a sad West Sea Defense Day or Marineon memorial service rather than a Armed Forces Day ceremony like this, but representative Lee Jae-myung didn't go.

◇Boo Seung-chan: Politicians, ruling and opposition politicians are now celebrating. Now we have to go because it's on a large scale. Rather than this, there are people who have been sacrificed while committing to national security. I hope you take care of those people a lot. And even if you're in power, I hope you look at the dedication of soldiers. I'll tell you that.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: You should also tell CEO Lee Jae-myung. Representative Lee Jae-myung launched a public opinion contest the day before the ceremony by posting a recording file on his SNS about the perjury teacher case. Is it a protest against the prosecution's sentence?

◇Boo Seung-chan: Maybe there's something like that. In practice, there are no cases in which the sentence is almost the highest in relation to perjury teachers. As you can see why the transcript was released, I actually talked to Lee Jae-myung and Kim Jin-sung about four times on the phone. About 12 times, I used expressions to tell the truth as I remembered it. It seems that there must have been some unfair aspects of such things because the prosecution distorted their memories and expressed them to tell them.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes. However, when Judge Yoo Chang-hoon rejected the warrant last year, the suspicion of perjury teacher seems to have been clarified. It was pointed out that Lee Jae-myung said, "Thank you for the judiciary's judgment." How do you judge whether Lee Jae-myung is guilty or not of perjury teacher?

◇ Boo Seung-chan: I don't know. This is the judiciary's area of judgment. It's hard for me to say this or that. If you look at what's been released so far, it's estimated from the judiciary's ruling and then the transcripts. In practice, I think I'm more likely to be innocent. And as I listen to the transcript, it's not like, "This is actually distorting your memory," but rather, you're reviving your memory well and now you're having a legal dispute and a judicial logic fight. I hope you can look at it like that.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes, he said he expected to be innocent, but Supreme Council member Jeon Hyun-hee should plead not guilty and prepare for the possibility of guilt. I said this. Do you need an alternative?

◇ Boo Seung-chan: I don't know. There will still be a need for alternatives. And now, the first trial sentence will come out on the 15th and 25th, right? So now let's watch the judiciary's judgment. What alternatives or things like this need to be discussed after that?

◆ Bae Seung-hee: You mean it's not too late to do it then.

◇ Byungchan: Yes, yes

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Okay. The Democratic Party. An impeachment hearing was held for prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who investigated representative Lee Jae-myung. In the National Assembly, an impeachment night event was also held under the auspices of a Democratic Party lawmaker. The People's Power criticizes representative Lee Jae-myung's judicial risk by impeachment. What if you give me your opinion?

◇Boo Seung-chan: Well, the case of impeachment and now Lee Jae-myung judicial risk are completely separate. We're going on a completely different route. One is to go toward the manipulation of state affairs related to power. One is that representative Lee Jae-myung is related to a perjury teacher or something personal. One is a problem at the national level and the other is a problem at the individual level, so it's not for bulletproof use. It's not right to do this. In any case, the role of the National Assembly is that the Constitution plays the role given in the Constitution. I don't think it's right to say that it's for bulletproof use against Lee Jae-myung's judicial risk because it's being performed. So I'm saying that the level of comparison itself is not right.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: President Yoon exercised his demand for reconsideration on the Special Prosecutor's Office Act for Kim Gun-hee. Also, the prosecution was not prosecuted. What's the Democratic Party's response?

◇Boo Seung-chan: I think it will probably be handled at today's plenary session. It is expected to be handled at the plenary session, and in practice, the results of the opinion poll show that the special prosecutor for Kim Gun-hee are in the late 60s, but isn't it that the people need an independent prosecutor for Kim Gun-hee? Let's collect that opinion well and now our Democratic Party members will vote individually in the plenary session's vote. Regarding the independent counsel law, there are circumstantial evidence that Kim Gun-hee intervened in state affairs in various fields anyway, and these need to be clarified. In that sense, I think an independent counsel is essential.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: But how many votes do you expect from the power of the people if we make a re-decision?

◇ Boo Seung-chan: I don't know. President Yoon Suk Yeol also used the expression, "If we have a dinner with the floor leaders of the floor leaders this time, we are one." Didn't Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the party, say yesterday that the independent counsel law should be blocked in the end? So I don't think there will be many deviant votes. Of course, in the case of Representative Ahn Cheol Soo, basically, when the regime is changed, a harsher investigation is predicted, and there is an atmosphere that he will agree to the special prosecution law.I'm predicting that Ma is not really likely to pass.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: If it doesn't pass again, if it doesn't pass as you said, are you going to propose another independent counsel law for Kim Gun-hee?

◇ Bu Seung-chan: Of course, it's a national demand that we have to propose. The lawmakers are also hesitant because now, from the perspective of the ruling party in Yoon Suk Yeol, they seem to be wary of the president of Yoon Suk Yeol, especially the presidential generation. There seems to be no autonomy itself, and in the end, the statute of limitations related to the election law is October 10, right? After that, I expect that there will probably be many lawmakers with conviction.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes. Regarding the election law, Mrs. Kim Gun-hee is requesting an apology. If Mrs. Kim Geon-hee apologizes, will it also affect the independent counsel law?

◇Boo Seung-chan: I don't think it will affect the Special Counsel Act. A substantial apology will not invalidate the independent counsel law itself. Apples don't seem to have anything to do with me at all. And I don't think it's very likely to apologize.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Then you don't need an apology. That's what I'm saying.

◇Boo Seung-chan: No, it's not that we don't need an apology, but just the circumstances that have emerged so far, didn't Kim Gun-hee apologize in the past when she was a presidential candidate? But now, the president's office will also make a judgment. I'm saying that it's important to apologize right away when some circumstances come out and public opinion deteriorates considerably, and how meaningful it would be to that part because I've crossed a bridge that I can't come back now.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: I see. I see. I think you're going to vote again today, but I'll ask you when the conclusion comes out later. I think today's interview was very difficult. Thank you for answering difficult questions well.

◇Boo Seung-chan: Yes, thank you too.

◆ Bae Seung-hee: Yes, this has been Bo Seung-chan of the Democratic Party of Korea.