Hong Ik-pyo "Will Impeach Second and Third Lee Dong-gwan"
Criticizing Mass Pending Bills in the Legislation Committee, Demanding Apology and More
The Democratic Party criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol's acceptance of former Broadcasting and Communications Commission Chairman Lee Dong-gwan's resignation, calling it "an obstruction by the president of legal proceedings against a high-ranking public official who violated the constitution and committed criminal offenses." They declared that if the Broadcasting and Communications Commission, which operates on a consensus-based system, is run like a government agency with only one decision-maker, they will impeach all future candidates like Lee Dong-gwan.
On the same day, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said at the 'Rally Condemning the President's Veto' held at the National Assembly Rotunda, "To seize control of broadcasting and to appoint Lee Dong-gwan's avatar, they are damaging state affairs by ignoring the National Assembly and forcing resignations through trickery," adding, "This is absolutely unacceptable."
Democratic Party floor leader Hong Ik-pyo pointed out, "The acceptance of former Chairman Lee's resignation was very wrong," and said, "The president should not have accepted the resignation but should have dismissed him." Hong said, "Resignations should not be accepted from public officials who are at fault or have criminal charges," adding, "They should have been dismissed, or if there was no wrongdoing, they should have willingly complied with the impeachment procedures pushed by the National Assembly." He criticized, "Accepting Lee Dong-gwan's resignation to avoid impeachment proceedings and constitutional court trials over his hit-and-run charges is very wrong," and said, "The president obstructed legal proceedings against a high-ranking public official who violated the constitution and committed criminal offenses."
Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
He said, "If a two-person sole decision-making system again makes major decisions in an illegal manner, we will impeach all second and third Lee Dong-gwans," and added, "We hope a proper Broadcasting and Communications Commission chairman will be appointed." Hong also said, "If the president has the right to appoint, the National Assembly has the legitimate right to impeach, so if it proceeds as with Lee Dong-gwan, we will not stand idly by."
The Broadcasting and Communications Commission operates based on a consensus system with five commissioners discussing and deciding. However, under former Chairman Lee's leadership, decisions were made by only Lee and Vice Chairman Lee Sang-in. The Democratic Party criticized this, saying that the consensus-based Broadcasting and Communications Commission was operated in a sole decision-making system where decision-making authority was entrusted to one person.
Meanwhile, Hong criticized the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for delaying bill reviews due to impeachment and other reasons, saying, "Is this why you asked to be the chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee?" and added, "I have been a member of the National Assembly for over 10 years, but I have never seen such a Legislation and Judiciary Committee, such a chairman, or such a ruling party." He said, "The ruling party should step up to prevent disruptions and proceed with normal bill processing, but instead, they are blocking legislation and causing dysfunction in the committee. Where else does this happen?" He demanded an official apology and a promise to prevent recurrence from the chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the People Power Party. He also called for the replacement of the chairman of the Supreme Court Personnel Hearing Special Committee. Chairman Kim currently also serves as the chairman of the Supreme Court Chief Justice Personnel Hearing Special Committee. Hong warned, "If he is not replaced, the Supreme Court Chief Justice Personnel Hearing Committee will not operate normally."
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