Democratic Party pushes for impeachment

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party is pressing ahead with the impeachment process against Lee Dong-gwan, the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission chairman, along with prosecutors Lee Jeong-seop and Son Jun-seong. After submitting the motion on Thursday, the party plans to forcefully proceed with the impeachment during the plenary parliamentary session scheduled for Thursday. The ruling People Power Party contended that the sessions on Thursday and Friday are dedicated to next year's budget deliberations, staging protests outside the parliamentary offices. Despite strong objections, however, the session was held as National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo acceded to the Democratic Party's demands, leading to the submission of the impeachment motion. Criticism has emerged over the intense standoff between the ruling and opposition parties, overshadowing the legislative focus on next year's budget plans and livelihood bills.

During the parliamentary session on Thursday, the Democratic Party reported the impeachment motion against the three individuals, which was previously tabled on November 9 and resubmitted after 21 days. The party initially proposed the motion before the November 9 session but withdrew it the following day after the PPP's filibustering led to the vote's failure. According to parliamentary rules, an impeachment motion must be voted on within 72 hours after being reported to the parliamentary session, following a 24-hour reporting period. In an attempt to obstruct the impeachment vote, the People Power Party proposed referring the matter to the parliamentary Judiciary and Legal Affairs Committee for review, but the Democratic Party's opposition votes thwarted the proposal.

Following the parliamentary session, the People Power Party organized a protest rally in front of the National Assembly to urge Speaker Kim's resignation to stop what they called the “massive opposition party's reckless abuse of power.” A nighttime sit-in at the National Assembly was planned from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day, with Yoon Jae-wok, the floor leader of the People Power Party vowing a robust response reflecting public anger.

With the deadline for the legal processing of next year's budget (December 2) looming, the special budget settlement committee, tasked with reviewing the contentious budget, reportedly failed to initiate discussions on budget increases. A parliamentary official expressed concern, saying, "Even the last regular session of the 21st National Assembly seems poised to be stained not as a people-centered session but as a political one, potentially wasting the last 'golden time' before next year's general elections for handling livelihood bills."


Sung-Hwi Kang yolo@donga.com