Impeachment of Lee Dong-gwan Initially Blocked by Filibuster Withdrawal
Impeachment Vote Ultimately Fails Due to Voluntary Resignation
With the sudden resignation of Lee Dong-gwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, the impeachment offensive by the Democratic Party of Korea came to an end. During the offensive and defensive battle between the ruling and opposition parties over the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee, various 'clever moves and tricks' were deployed, but the impeachment motion was ultimately discarded due to Lee's voluntary resignation.
The impeachment motion against Chairman Lee was the biggest issue of this year's regular National Assembly session. The Democratic Party of Korea desperately pushed for impeachment, raising suspicions of Lee's attempt to control the broadcasting sector, while the People Power Party fought with all their might to block it. Chairman Lee, who served less than 100 days, became a rare case where impeachment was attempted twice but failed.
First Impeachment Motion Blocked by Yoon Jae-ok's Clever Move
The Democratic Party, the largest party in the National Assembly with 168 members, can push forward an impeachment motion against a ministerial-level official at any time if there is no internal disagreement. However, the biggest obstacle in pushing the impeachment motion is the schedule of the plenary session. According to the National Assembly Act, an impeachment motion must be processed within 72 hours after 24 hours have passed since its report. If the plenary session is not held within three days after the impeachment motion is reported, the motion is discarded.
Because of this, the Democratic Party, which was looking for an opportunity to impeach Chairman Lee and others, took action around the plenary votes on the Yellow Envelope Act (Amendment to the Labor Union and Labor Relations Act) and the Three Broadcasting Acts (Amendments to the Broadcasting Act, the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Agency Act, and the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act). The People Power Party announced it would respond with unlimited debate (filibuster) on these bills. According to the filibuster strategy of the People Power Party, the plenary session would last at least five days, so the Democratic Party judged that conditions were met to process the impeachment motion after its report.
However, the situation was overturned by a hidden strategy of Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People Power Party. Without even informing his own party members, Yoon pulled out the 'withdrawal card' for the filibuster. By preventing the plenary session from being held from the day after the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee was reported, he effectively blocked the motion and caused it to be discarded. This was a strong expression of his determination to block the impeachment by giving up the public opinion battle over the Yellow Envelope Act and others. However, Yoon's smile after this 'clever move' did not last long.
At that time, the Democratic Party anticipated Yoon's 'one move' and countered with their own 'withdrawal card' for the impeachment motion. Although there was controversy between the two parties over the interpretation of the National Assembly Act, the Assembly accepted the withdrawal, stating that the motion was not established as an agenda item merely by being reported. If the Assembly had not accepted the withdrawal, at least Chairman Lee could not have been reconsidered on the same issue until the last day of the regular session, the 9th, according to the principle of non bis in idem. Ultimately, Yoon's clever move was used only as a one-time card to block the impeachment, as the National Assembly Secretariat accepted the Democratic Party's request to withdraw the impeachment motion.
Democratic Party's Second Impeachment Frustrated by Lee Dong-gwan's Resignation
On the 1st, during the plenary session held at the National Assembly, the voting results for the impeachment motions against prosecutors Son Jun-seong and Lee Jeong-seop were delivered to the Speaker of the National Assembly. On that day, both impeachment motions against the two prosecutors were passed. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
After withdrawing the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee, the Democratic Party immediately launched a second impeachment attempt. They pushed for impeachment based on the fact that plenary sessions were scheduled consecutively on the 30th of last month and the 1st of this month during the regular session schedule negotiations. The People Power Party argued that these plenary sessions were preliminary schedules for budget processing and were not agreed upon. Although there was a dispute over the content and nature of the agreement, the plenary sessions were held for two days.
Amid the clash between the ruling and opposition parties, the People Power Party suspended the review of bills in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, enduring criticism for neglecting livelihood bills. This was effectively an attempt to eliminate the agenda items to prevent the plenary session from convening. However, Speaker Kim Jin-pyo held plenary sessions to process the appointment consent motion for Lee Jong-seok, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, the extension consent motion for overseas dispatch troops, various National Assembly resolutions, and special committee extension motions, thereby proceeding with the reporting schedule of the impeachment motion.
However, due to Chairman Lee's sudden resignation and President Yoon's swift approval, the impeachment attempt was ultimately aborted. Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party, criticized this, saying, "The president obstructed the legal processing of a high-ranking public official who violated the constitution and committed criminal charges."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party explained that they "were aware of and had concerns about" Chairman Lee's resignation in advance. It was not a case of being caught unaware. Floor leader Hong added, "If the president has the right to appoint, the National Assembly has the legitimate right to impeach, so if it happens again in the manner of Lee Dong-gwan, we will not remain passive."
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