Ruling and Opposition Parties Engage in Heated Debate Over the Suitability of Impeachment Review Through Petitions
On the 16th, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee adopted Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok and Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok as additional witnesses for the hearing on the petition for the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol. The People Power Party opposed this, arguing that the Legislation and Judiciary Committee cannot handle the impeachment motion before it is referred to the committee, but they left the meeting as they could not prevent the addition of witnesses.
The committee held a plenary session that day and added six more witnesses related to suspicions involving First Lady Kim Geon-hee. Ruling party members protested and left the meeting, so the opposition party solely adopted the witnesses.
In addition to Prosecutor General Lee and Chief of Staff Jeong, the newly adopted witnesses include Hong Cheol-ho, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs of the Presidential Office; Song Chang-jin, Acting Deputy Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office; Kang Ui-gu, Chief of the Presidential Secretariat; and Lee Dong-hyuk, Director of the Presidential Archives.
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee plans to deliver attendance requests to these individuals, asking them to appear at the hearing. Jeong Cheong-rae, chair of the committee from the Democratic Party, stated regarding the adopted witnesses, "According to the Act on Testimony, Inspection, and Expertise at the National Assembly, if they fail to appear without justifiable reasons, they can be prosecuted under the National Assembly Act."
Prior to this, the ruling and opposition parties engaged in a heated debate over whether the Legislation and Judiciary Committee can review the impeachment petition based on the petition. Yoo Sang-beom, a People Power Party lawmaker, said, "The Legislation and Judiciary Committee does not have the authority to propose impeachment," adding, "Reviewing an important agenda without authority means an unauthorized body is conducting the review." The People Power Party also argued that if an impeachment trial is to be held, it should be formally processed, and political responsibility should be taken accordingly.
Gwak Gyu-taek, also from the People Power Party, criticized, "Despite the constitutional procedures for presidential impeachment, the Democratic Party is attempting to hold a hearing effectively equivalent to an impeachment investigation under the pretext of an impeachment petition without following procedures," and added, "No one can accept holding an illegal, unlawful hearing that violates constitutional order while adopting witnesses and demanding them to receive summonses."
The Democratic Party plans to hold hearings on the 19th and 26th. On the 19th, allegations of presidential external pressure related to the death of Cha Sang-byeong will be addressed, and on the 26th, suspicions regarding First Lady Kim Geon-hee's stock manipulation and receipt of luxury handbags will be discussed.
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