Opposition Plans to Pass Impeachment Bill at Next Plenary Session
Broadcasting Commission Abruptly Appoints Public Broadcaster Board Members
The opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, have proposed an impeachment motion against Kim Hong-il, the Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC). The reason for the impeachment motion is the attempt to seize control of public broadcasting through a two-person system. Before Chairman Kim entered a state of suspension from duty, the KCC began the process of appointing the board members of public broadcasters.
Park Chan-dae, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 28th. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the 28th, Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, "When the opposition party proposed an impeachment motion to prevent Chairman Kim's broadcasting takeover, they are pushing forward like a secret military operation to turn public broadcasting into a pet," adding, "This is an outrage that cannot happen in a democratic country." He continued, "The Democratic Party will take all possible measures to counter Kim Hong-il KCC's broadcasting takeover coup attempt," emphasizing, "President Yoon Seok-yeol must immediately dismiss Chairman Kim and stop the illegal broadcasting takeover coup."
The five opposition parties?the Democratic Party, the Party for National Innovation, the Progressive Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the New Future Party?proposed the impeachment motion against Chairman Kim the day before. The reasons for impeachment included violations of the KCC Establishment Act due to the two-person system operation, approval of the change of the largest shareholder of YTN, dereliction of duty such as negligence in KCC management, refusal to attend the National Assembly and submit materials, and negligence in managing TBS. The five opposition parties stated at a press conference, "We will impeach Chairman Kim to control abuse of power and uphold the Constitution."
The opposition plans to process the impeachment motion against Chairman Kim by June 4, when the June extraordinary session of the National Assembly concludes. The vote on the impeachment motion is expected to take place at the plenary session scheduled for June 3-4. No Jong-myeon, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, told reporters after a party meeting the previous day, "We adopted the impeachment motion as the party's official stance," adding, "There were no opposing opinions on the impeachment motion, and as soon as the report on the impeachment proposal was made, applause and comments of 'well done' broke out simultaneously."
After the impeachment motion against Chairman Kim was proposed, the KCC accelerated the appointment of public broadcasting board members. The KCC announced the day before that it would hold a plenary meeting to approve the appointment plan for the boards of KBS, MBC, and EBS. The regular plenary meetings are held every Wednesday, but this time the appointment of public broadcasting board members was moved up ahead of schedule. Once the impeachment vote takes place, Chairman Kim will enter a state of suspension from duty.
On the same day, the Democratic Party and the Party for National Innovation visited the KCC in protest against the appointment process of the public broadcasting board members but were not allowed to enter the building. A verbal dispute occurred between lawmakers and KCC staff during the issuance of visitor passes. Lee Hak-young, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, said, "Is the Yoon Seok-yeol administration blocking lawmakers from entering state institutions?" and added, "The Democratic Party will continue to expose the KCC's lawlessness and work to invalidate its decisions."
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