Two Votes Supporting Impeachment of Lee Sang-min? ... The Mystery of the Defection Vote

Even Excluding 176 Opposition Party Members Supporting Lee Sang-min's Impeachment,
3 Votes in Favor and 5 Invalid Votes Remain, Possibility of Ruling Party Defections

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] The voting results on the impeachment motion against Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 8th, largely split along party lines. Since the vote was conducted by secret ballot, it is difficult to identify the exact list of supporters and opponents. However, based on the information available so far, it is possible to infer the results. The outcome shows that although a minority, there were some dissenting votes from the People Power Party.

On the 9th, Representative Yoon Gun-young said in an interview with MBC Radio, "Numerically, it seems that a small number of dissenting votes came from the People Power Party."

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo is reading the voting results of the impeachment motion against Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min at the 4th plenary session of the 403rd National Assembly (extraordinary session) held at the National Assembly on the 8th. Photo by Yonhap News

The impeachment motion vote saw 293 out of 299 members present participate, with 179 votes in favor, 109 against, and 5 invalid votes, resulting in approval. The motion was jointly proposed by 176 members from the three opposition parties: the Democratic Party (169 members), the Justice Party (6 members), and the Basic Income Party (1 member).

It is analyzed that all 176 members voted in favor. The Democratic Party had taken internal measures such as confirming the attendance of all its members before the vote, so it is believed there were no dissenting votes from their side.

The People Power Party, holding 115 seats, had 110 members participate in the vote. Three members, including party leadership candidate Representative Cho Kyung-tae and Representatives Jung Woon-cheon and Lim Byung-heon, were absent due to local schedules. Representative Jung Chan-min is currently incarcerated on bribery charges. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho was reportedly absent due to other commitments before the vote. Since there were 109 votes against, it can be inferred that there was one dissenting vote within the ruling party.

Seong Il-jong, the Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, pointed to Representative Kwon Eun-hee as the person who cast the dissenting vote. Representative Kwon, who joined the People Power Party through a merger from the People’s Party before the presidential election, has voiced opinions different from the party line.

Representative Kwon herself revealed that she voted in favor during the vote on the motion to dismiss Minister Lee last December. In an interview with MBC Radio on the 9th, Chair Seong said, "Representative Kwon is not someone who usually cooperates with the party. She has always advocated for a merger with the Democratic Party," asserting that the dissenting vote on the impeachment motion was likely hers.

However, some political circles analyze that there may have been more dissenting votes from the People Power Party. The impeachment motion was jointly proposed by 176 members of the three opposition parties, and even assuming all of them voted in favor, there remain 3 votes in favor and 5 invalid votes unaccounted for.

Excluding the three opposition parties and the People Power Party, there were 7 members from minor parties and independents who participated in the vote. Except for Representative Cho Jung-hoon of the Transition Korea Party, all independents are former Democratic Party members. Based on the numbers, it is analyzed that they likely cast either votes in favor or invalid votes.

However, Representative Cho is highly likely to have voted against. He has expressed opposition to the Itaewon special investigation and the motion to dismiss Minister Lee. If Representative Cho voted against, it would mean that only two members of the People Power Party did not vote against.

If the Democratic Party failed to enforce party discipline and some members voted against the dismissal motion, the number of People Power Party members voting in favor of impeachment could increase accordingly. Both ruling and opposition parties are tight-lipped, but keen attention is being paid to how many dissenting votes there were and who cast them.