Cardinal Opposes Security Law Repeal
Sept 15, 2004
Roman Catholic Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan said yesterday the National Security Law must be retained, although some revisions were required.
(Source unknown, 13 September 2004) "(We) cannot trust North Korea yet," and it is too early to scrap the anti-communist law, he told Grand National Party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye. "It is extremely regretful that the nation is dividing into two."
Park met Cardinal Kim as part of the conservative GNP's drive to block the ruling liberal Uri Party's push to repeal the law.
After the Uri Party learned of Park's planned visit to the cardinal, Uri leader Lee Bu-young visited the largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order, to explain the planned repeal was not an ideological move but for the principal of law.
Opponents of the law say that it was abused by former military dictatorships to curb dissent and suppress political opponents.
Ven. Bubjang, deputy president of the Jogye Order, refrained from taking a position favoring either party. He said he was not in a position to comment on whether he approved of the repeal.
The ruling and opposition parties have been wrangling over the National Security Law following Uri's decision to repeal it and replace it with revisions to the Criminal Law or a new measure.
The GNP claims the law should be preserved with a slight revision in order to prevent any national security vacuum.
Uri plans to pass the repeal in the National Assembly before this session ends in December, while the GNP is determined to stir up public protests to halt the move.
Lee Bu-young called earlier in the day for an open debate among "all political parties" on scrapping the National Security Law.
"The GNP must stop causing social unrest," he said, adding that a public debate should include minority parties without the status of a floor negotiation group. The third-largest Democratic Labor Party with 10 seats is fervently in support of the repeal of the law.
"The Uri Party has a lot of new things it is pushing in the new parliament. But because the party is forcing change with excessive speed, the public has a hard time catching up," Ven. Bubjang told Lee during their 30-minute-long meeting.
The two political leaders, Park and Lee, plan to visit other religious organizations in coming days as part of their efforts to expand public consensus of each of their staunch position towards the law.
The GNP is also planning mass rallies across the nation in collaboration with conservative groups to preserve the law. In recent weeks, the Supreme and Constitutional Courts have issued rulings that favor retention of the law.
Cardinal Opposes Security Law Repeal