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PPP stages rally to protest DP-led passage of judicial reform bills

Published: 03 Mar. 2026, 19:56

People Power Party members march toward the Blue House in central Seoul during a rally on March 3, calling for the protection of judicial independence and constitutional order. [YONHAP]

Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) staged a rally on Tuesday to protest a set of controversial judicial reform bills passed by the National Assembly, led by the ruling Democratic Party.

About 80 PPP lawmakers and party officials gathered at the National Assembly in western Seoul at 2 p.m. and began marching through Gwanghwamun Square toward the Blue House in what the party described as a rally aimed at defending judicial independence and constitutional order.

The three bills seek to establish a new offense of “legal distortion,” allow constitutional appeals of court rulings and increase the number of Supreme Court justices from 14 to 26.

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok denounced the bills as measures that would “destroy the judiciary” and ultimately pave the way for a dictatorship under President Lee Jae Myung.

“I strongly urge President Lee Jae Myung to abandon his dreams of a long-term dictatorship and exercise his veto power against the three judicial destruction bills to uphold the constitutional order,” he said.

The PPP has questioned whether the bills are genuinely intended to advance judicial reform or to shield Lee from his five criminal trials, which have been suspended following his presidential election last year.

The bills passed the National Assembly last week amid strong opposition from the PPP.

The lawmakers plan to hold a press conference after they arrive at the Blue House later in the day.

Yonhap