Legislation Committee Approves Impeachment Petition Hearing Agenda
Opposition Unilaterally Adopts 39 Witnesses Including Kim Geon-hee and Choi Eun-soon
Choo Kyung-ho: "Unconstitutional and Void... Reckless Act Dividing National Opinion"
When the opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, decided to hold a hearing alone to process the "National Petition Urging the Impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol," the People Power Party rebutted that the resolution was fundamentally invalid as it violated the Constitution.
On the 10th, Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, held a press conference at the National Assembly main building and asked, "We ask the Democratic Party. Are you now starting the impeachment of the president?" He criticized, "(Holding the hearing) is an outrage that destroys the Constitution and laws and paralyzes state affairs, as well as a reckless act that divides public opinion."
Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is entering the National Assembly on the 10th for a press briefing related to current issues, including the 'Impeachment Petition Hearing for President Yoon Seok-yeol.' Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Earlier, Jeong Cheong-rae, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party, held a full committee meeting the previous day and reviewed the agenda for the impeachment hearing against President Yoon. After the number of participants in the impeachment petition against President Yoon on the National Assembly's public petition site exceeded 1.3 million, Chairman Jeong insisted that, according to the National Assembly Act, the petition agenda must be reviewed and reported to the Speaker of the National Assembly within 90 days.
Despite opposition from ruling party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Chairman Jeong pushed through the vote, and the agenda passed with only Democratic Party members in favor. For the first time in constitutional history, an impeachment hearing against a sitting president was held in the National Assembly based on a national petition. The 39 witnesses for the hearing were also selected solely by the Democratic Party. Among the witnesses were Kim Keon-hee, related to the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation allegations, and Choi Eun-soon, President Yoon’s mother-in-law. Also included were Pastor Choi Jae-young, who gave luxury bags to Mrs. Kim, former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop, who was embroiled in controversy over external pressure in a Marine Corps personnel death case, and former Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Seong-geun.
At the press conference that day, Floor Leader Choo raised issues with both the procedure and content of the hearing promotion. He pointed out, "The presidential impeachment procedure requires a proposal by a majority of the total members of the National Assembly and must be referred to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee through a plenary session resolution to activate the impeachment investigation authority," adding, "This impeachment petition hearing was held without a plenary session resolution, and Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee is illegally exercising investigative authority." He also criticized the failure to appoint a ruling party floor leader and hold substitute debates during the forced processing of the hearing agenda.
On the 9th, at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly, ruling party lawmakers walked out in protest against the adoption of the hearing plan related to the "Petition for Immediate Proposal of Impeachment against President Yoon Seok-yeol." Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
On the 9th, at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly, ruling party lawmakers protested as they attempted to process the agenda for adopting the hearing plan related to the "Petition for Immediate Proposal of Impeachment Motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol." Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Moreover, among the reasons for impeachment stated in the submitted petition were "threats to peace due to the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea" and "response to the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima." Floor Leader Choo rebutted, "According to Article 65 of the Constitution, these do not constitute grounds for impeachment as 'violations of the Constitution or laws in the execution of duties.'" He said, "Only acts related to the president's official duties can be grounds for impeachment," and added, "According to the National Assembly Act and the Petition Act, petitions that insult the president or other state agencies, or petitions concerning ongoing investigations, must not be accepted by the Speaker of the National Assembly." He further stated, "If members of the National Assembly have even the minimum conscience in their duties and consider national interests and the livelihood of the people, they should not adopt witnesses for matters that cannot be grounds for impeachment." He also declared that since the impeachment hearing resolution itself is fundamentally invalid, witnesses have no obligation to appear, and if witnesses fail to attend, he plans to file complaints against Chairman Jeong and Democratic Party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for false accusation and coercion.
Floor Leader Choo cited the example of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2020, when 1.46 million people agreed to a petition urging the impeachment of President Moon, saying, "At that time, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee did not review the petition and discarded it," and asked, "Why is the Democratic Party pushing it through now when they did not review it then? The day before yesterday (the 8th), Kim Yo-jong, deputy department head of the North Korean Workers' Party, mentioned the impeachment petition. What is the intention behind immediately pushing for a hearing on the impeachment petition within a day, as if obeying Kim Yo-jong's orders?" He also urged Lee Jae-myung, who is challenging for re-election as party leader that day, to express his position on this matter.
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