Moon Kook-hyun resigns as RKP head

Moon Kook-hyun, chairman of the minor opposition Renewal of Korea Party, officially resigned as the party`s chief yesterday.

In a party meeting late Wednesday, Moon and the party`s Supreme Council members plus other party officials resigned en masse in the aftermath of the Supreme Court`s ruling on Moon earlier last month.

The court sentenced Moon to a suspended term of eight months, depriving him of his seat in the National Assembly. The election law states that a lawmaker will lose the post if sentenced to a jail term or fined more than 1 million won ($845).



He was charged with issuing low-interest party bonds, which allegedly provided his party with illicit financial profits, and taking kickbacks from a proportional representative candidate during the general elections last April.

The minor opposition party will create an emergency counteraction committee next Saturday, which will be jointly directed by its Supreme Council member Song Young-oh and Song Young, a party member who is also a novelist.

This comes in line with the party`s effort to fight the court`s decision, which the RKP claims was influenced politically.

"The Supreme Court`s ruling against Moon, along with the Constitutional Court`s ruling on the media laws, has major flaws," the party said in a statement. "Our party, joined by some civic groups, will launch the counteraction committee to bring back justice in the judicature."

(sharon@heraldm.com)



By Cho Ji-hyun