'Impeachment Crisis' Hits February National Assembly... Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash Over 'Legal Grounds'

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon, Geum Bo-ryeong, Park Jun-i] On the 7th, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the reporting of the impeachment motion against Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min to the plenary session. The Democratic Party of Korea intends to forcefully pass the impeachment motion in the plenary vote on the 8th, while the People Power Party strongly opposed it, calling it a unilateral impeachment push.

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 31st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the 7th, Park Hong-geun, the floor leader, stated at the morning party leaders' meeting held at the National Assembly, "The impeachment motion against Minister Lee Sang-min will be processed at tomorrow's plenary session in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and the procedures stipulated by the National Assembly Act." Regarding the Itaewon disaster, Floor Leader Park evaluated it as "a preventable disaster, a man-made and social catastrophe," and criticized Minister Lee, saying, "As the minister in charge, I expected him to take political and moral responsibility and resign voluntarily, but he shamelessly resisted, belittling the people's duty and ultimately refusing responsibility."

The day before, the three opposition parties?the Democratic Party, the Justice Party, and the Basic Income Party?jointly submitted the impeachment motion against Minister Lee to the National Assembly's legislative affairs office. The impeachment motion submitted by the three opposition parties included violations such as ▲Violation of the Framework Act on Disaster and Safety Management ▲Violation of the obligation to take pre-disaster prevention measures ▲Violation of the obligation to take post-disaster response measures. As constitutional violations, the motion cited "The state's primary duty is to guarantee the life and safety of the people" (Article 34, Paragraph 6) and "All citizens have dignity and value as human beings and have the right to pursue happiness" (Constitution Article 10) as grounds for impeachment. It also cited violations of the National Public Officials Act, including breaches of the duty of faithful performance of official duties and the duty to maintain dignity.

However, the People Power Party argued that the Itaewon disaster and Minister Lee's impeachment should be viewed separately and denied that the conditions for impeachment were met.

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is attending the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the same day, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the morning party leaders' meeting, "There is no disagreement that the Itaewon disaster was a tragic disaster that must never happen again, but the minister's impeachment is a different matter," referring to Article 65 of the Constitution, which states, "A public official may be impeached if they violate the Constitution or laws in the execution of their duties."

Floor Leader Joo emphasized, "In the special police investigation of the Itaewon disaster, there was no particular suspicion against Minister Lee, and no serious violations were revealed in his duties. Although he oversees disaster management, emergency rescue support during safety accidents and disasters is the responsibility of autonomous police, and the Minister of the Interior and Safety has no authority to command the police or fire agencies." He added, "Some remarks and actions may be considered wrong, but they cannot be seen as 'serious legal violations.'"

The Democratic Party believes there will be no difficulty in passing the impeachment motion in the National Assembly plenary session. The impeachment motion passes with a majority of the total members of the National Assembly, and it is possible with Democratic Party members alone. The total number of lawmakers from the three opposition parties who jointly proposed the impeachment motion the day before was 176. Ko Min-jung, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, appeared on KBS Radio that day and said, "Since it was adopted as the party's official stance and there are other opposition parties, it seems likely to pass smoothly," adding that the impeachment motion was "overwhelming" at the party meeting.

If the impeachment motion is passed, Minister Lee will be suspended from duty until the Constitutional Court makes a ruling. This is expected to be the first case in constitutional history. However, if the Constitutional Court dismisses it, there is also analysis that a backlash against the Democratic Party may occur.

Floor Leader Joo said, "There was even a senior constitutional scholar who said the possibility of the Constitutional Court accepting it is zero," and added, "If the impeachment motion, which the Democratic Party proposed as the party's official stance, is dismissed, the resulting confusion and consequences will be entirely the Democratic Party's responsibility."