South Korea: Happy Days Are Gone Again

With the festive atmosphere of the Asian Games two weeks behind, South Korea’s ruling party last week resumed its own game of hardball by ordering the arrest of Opposition Assemblyman Yoo Sung Hwan. The incident began when Yoo, 53, distributed advance copies of a speech he intended to make before the National Assembly. When the legislative session adjourned abruptly, Yoo was forced to wait until the next day to deliver his fiercely antigovernment remarks.

By law, no legislator can be arrested for comments made in the Assembly without the consent of that body. But the government, backed by ruling-party legislators, contended that Yoo’s distribution of the pro-Communist speech prior to its delivery on the floor was a violation of the National Security Law. If convicted, Yoo faces up to seven years in prison.