Standing at the podium before protesters against President Park Geun-hye‘s impeachment in Seoul Saturday, Kim Pyung-woo yet again turned aggressive in his rhetoric.
“The parliamentary impeachment of our president must be shredded into pieces,” said Kim, one of the legal representatives for Park. “(The motion for impeachment) is mere rubbish that would not even be worth reviewing.”
The 72-year-old judge-turned-lawyer incited Park sympathizers at the venue with his fiery speech.
Kim’s presence among pro-Park protesters, waving Korean national flag Taegeukgi, was also felt through some avid supporters promoting “Impeach the Impeachment,” a book of Kim’s columns defending “Park’s dignity.”
The columns and the book have been published through Chogabje.com, named after and run by a retired conservative journalist Cho Gab-je. The online news outlet caters to far-right Park supporters and critics claimed it is deepening the division of the public over the stance toward the embattled president. The nation’s first female president and daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee was impeached by the parliament in December 2016.
Kim has been openly denouncing Park’s impeachment through Chogabje.com since late last year, when the so-called Choi Soon-sil influence-peddling scandal came to the fore. Kim, who use to lead the Korean Bar Association, began to legally represent Park in mid-February, three weeks after the first edition of “Impeach the Impeachment” was published in late January.
Kim slammed those who join candlelight vigils and demand Park’s resignation. He also chastised the general public for their failure to appreciate the benefits they have enjoyed as South Koreans.
During Constitutional Court trials in February, he called the impeachment trial “biased” and the justices warned him for insulting languages several times.
Born a second son of the late novelist Kim Dong-ri, Kim studied law at Seoul National University but regarded the Korean law as ambiguous. Kim, who also studied law at Harvard University, praised the US law as “more specific.”
Kim also depicted President Park favorably, saying that she is a woman who “should not be found guilty over spending time for her hairdo” on the day of the Sewol ferry sinking.
Kim said that her absence during the massive disaster should not be a cause for indictment, much less impeachment.
He argued in the book that South Koreans should forgive Park’s wrongdoings even if proven guilty to protect the image of the nation.”
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
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