Lee Dong-gwan, Sudden Resignation Before Impeachment Vote... New Year Budget at 'Zero Hour' (Comprehensive 2)

Broadcasting Commissioner Lee Dong-gwan Abruptly Resigns
President Yoon Contemplating Acceptance
Democratic Party Launches Fierce Attack: "Committed Crimes and Fled"

Lee Dong-gwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, abruptly tendered his resignation on the 1st. This move came ahead of the plenary session vote on his impeachment motion scheduled for that afternoon, seen as a choice to prevent the suspension of the Commission's functions. President Yoon Seok-yeol is reportedly deliberating whether to accept the resignation. The Democratic Party has stated its intention to push through the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee as planned, leading to a year-end impeachment political turmoil and causing the New Year’s budget bill to miss the legal deadline for the third consecutive year.

It is reported that Chairman Lee expressed his voluntary resignation to President Yoon late the previous day. Chairman Lee is said to have decided to step down due to recent disruptions in key duties and concerns that if the impeachment motion passes, the Commission’s work would be paralyzed by a months-long suspension. Upon arriving at the Commission’s Gwacheon office that day, he elaborated, "I did tell the President because I was worried about causing a burden due to concerns about a work gap at the Commission caused by the impeachment."

Lee Dong-kwan

Chairman Lee announced his intention to resign just over three months after taking office in August. A former journalist, Lee has faced criticism from opposition parties for allegedly leading media control during the Lee Myung-bak administration. He established a ‘Fake News Eradication Task Force’ to tackle fake news in broadcasting and telecommunications. He viewed certain media outlets as the source of fake news, which was then amplified and reproduced through portals, YouTube, and broadcasters.

In September, the government launched an on-site investigation into whether Naver artificially interfered with its news search service. The investigation aimed to analyze news algorithms to see if biased services were provided to specific media outlets. Chairman Lee also conducted comprehensive activities such as inspecting personal location information management practices of taxi-hailing platform operators like Kakao Mobility. Ahead of the parliamentary impeachment vote, he recently decided to withhold approval for the change of major shareholders of news channels Yonhap News TV and YTN.

Accordingly, the Democratic Party has been attempting to force the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee since last month and planned to vote on it in the plenary session after its submission the previous day.

If President Yoon accepts the resignation, the impeachment target disappears, rendering the parliamentary impeachment process ineffective. The Commission, currently operated by Chairman Lee and Commissioner Lee Sang-in, may avoid the suspension of functions caused by the passage of the impeachment motion. If the impeachment motion is passed, the Commission’s work could be suspended for up to 180 days until the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

The Democratic Party immediately reacted strongly. Floor leader Hong Ik-pyo called it a "trick to evade impeachment" and requested, "President Yoon Seok-yeol should not accept Lee Dong-gwan’s resignation and allow the National Assembly to complete the impeachment process." Supreme Council member Go Min-jung said, "Chairman Lee just made a ‘trick’ resignation declaration," accusing him of intending to evade impeachment and complete media control. She added, "Is he committing a crime and then ‘eoljuka’ (eat and run)?" and insisted, "The President should not approve the resignation since the National Assembly has entered the impeachment process, and if he does, he will become an accomplice to Chairman Lee’s ‘eoljuka’ act."

According to the National Assembly Act, an impeachment motion must be voted on between 24 hours and 72 hours after being reported to the plenary session. Despite Chairman Lee’s resignation declaration, Floor leader Hong plans to proceed with the impeachment motion vote as scheduled in the plenary session held that day. Hong said, "The National Assembly will convene the plenary session as agreed by the ruling and opposition parties," and "We plan to process the impeachment motions against Chairman Lee and two prosecutors involved in illegal corruption."

As the ruling and opposition parties continue a head-to-head confrontation over the impeachment motion, the next year’s budget bill, with its legal deadline just one day away, remains stalled in the National Assembly. This marks the third consecutive year of delayed approval since December 2020 and is expected to be recorded as a dishonor for the 21st National Assembly, which has exceeded the legal deadline since the enactment of the National Assembly Innovation Act in 2014. Both parties have set a new target deadline to complete the budget bill by the last day of the regular session on the 9th. Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung criticized, "I have never seen the government and ruling party so indifferent to budget review and approval," while People Power Party floor leader Yoon Jae-ok said, "There are differences in positions on several issues, so we need to sort these out and reach a compromise through dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties."