Nat'l Assembly on court riot

[Anchor]

The National Assembly held an urgent question session regarding the riot situation.

Both ruling and opposition parties agreed that violent incidents should not occur, but tensions arose over the investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and the court’s issuance of arrest warrants.

This is a report by reporter Lee Yoon-woo.

[Report]

Members of both the ruling and opposition parties criticized the riot situation at the Western District Court in unison.

[Cho Seung-hwan/People Power Party Member: "I deeply regret that many police officers were injured and the authority of the law was seriously undermined..."]

[Park Sang-hyuk/Democratic Party Member: "This situation was planned, with various preparations and serious violent brutality..."]

However, their perspectives on how to handle the situation were starkly different.

The ruling party urged both the CIO and the court to reflect on their actions.

[Lee Man-hee/People Power Party Member: "I believe that trust in legal fairness has collapsed; what do you think?"]

[Song Seog-jun/People Power Party Member: ""Is it normal to arrest (the president) as if he were a heinous criminal?"

[Oh Dong-woon/CIO Director: "The arrest was carried out in accordance with legal procedures based on the arrest warrant."]

The opposition party called for severe punishment for the protesters and criticized the ruling party as a whole.

[Jeon Yong-gi/Democratic Party Member: "If we don't severely punish them, another riot could happen anytime."]

[Min Hyung-bae/Democratic Party Member: "Shouldn’t acts like obstructing an arrest warrant and siding with them be considered anti-government activities?"]

A dispute also arose regarding the relationship between Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung.

[Cho Bae-sook/People Power Party Member: "This suspicion must be clarified, or he should apply for a recusal."]

[Bok Gi-wang/Democratic Party Member: "He is sending a message to his supporters to 'resist' in advance."]

[Kim Jung-won/Constitutional Court Secretary General: "I assure you that the trial is being conducted fairly."]

Meanwhile, in response to claims from some sectors that the riot was an expression of people's right to resist, Cheon Dae-yeop, head of the Court Administration Office, rebutted, stating that it was a denial of the rule of law.

KBS News, Lee Yoon-woo.