Court to determine fate of minor opposition UPP on Friday

The fate of the minor opposition party Unified Progressive Party will be determined on Friday. It`s been a year since the government filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to dissolve the party on Nov. 5 last year.

The Constitutional Court said Wednesday that it will finalize sentencing at 10 a.m. on Friday in its building in central Seoul. The court will decide on the injunction to ban the activity of the party and on whether party members will lose their National Assembly member status. The court sentencing will go live on TV.

The judges held a final deliberation meeting from 10 a.m. Wednesday to examine the draft of decision document, and then notified the sentencing date to the Justice Ministry, the party and to media. They also had a deliberation meeting Tuesday when final voting was made.

The fate of the party has virtually been decided, and if more than six of nine judges had voted for party dissolution the party will be dissolved immediately after Friday`s sentencing. This would mean that the Unified Progressive Party will disappear in history after three years since its foundation, and after 14 years if the period of the existence of the Democratic Labor Party, its former name, is included.

If the Constitutional Court rejects the dismissal request, the Unified Progressive Party will maintain its status as legal party and the government will face criticism of party repression.