Park Jeonghun "Did not mention Im Seonggeun but faced investigation pressure"
Lee Jongsup "No memory of discussing with President and Chae Sangbyeong"
Morning hearing delayed over legality... Ruling and opposition lawmakers injured
The National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's impeachment petition hearing for President Yoon Seok-yeol, which turned into chaos due to disputes between the ruling and opposition parties from the morning, focused intensively on suspicions related to the 'Chae Sang-byeong case.' Ruling party lawmakers centrally questioned whether the Presidential Office directly instructed former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Chief Park Jeong-hoon to save former Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Seong-geun during the hearing. Opposition lawmakers probed former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop about whether he had a 'presidential phone call' regarding the number '02-800-7070,' known as the Presidential Office number.
On the 19th, former witnesses including Park Jeong-hoon, former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander, Lim Seong-geun, former Marine Corps 1st Division Commander, and Lee Jong-seop, former Minister of National Defense, attended the hearing related to the public petition requesting the initiation of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol, held at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
On the afternoon of the 19th, Jang Dong-hyuk, a People Power Party lawmaker, asked former Investigation Unit Chief Park at the impeachment petition hearing held at the National Assembly, "Isn't it possible for the approver to issue an instruction to withhold (the transfer) because additional review is necessary?" He also asked, "The minister will be back soon, so was there any reason to urgently transfer the case to the Gyeongbuk Police Agency without waiting a day or two?" In response, former Chief Park said, "Delaying by a day or two is not a problem," and added, "We reported everything to the Marine Corps Commander, but the essential order and instruction from the Ministry of National Defense was to reduce and distort the investigation." He continued, "The withholding of the transfer was an instruction to distort and reduce the investigation, then re-report before transferring," emphasizing, "Doing so was dangerous and problematic, so I reported it to the Marine Corps Commander and proceeded with the transfer."
Opposition lawmakers focused on demanding witness testimony regarding '02-800-7070.' Kim Yong-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker, asked former Minister Lee, who was selected as a witness, "Have you ever consulted with the President regarding the Chae Sang-byeong case? Have you never spoken with the President?" Former Minister Lee replied, "I do not recall consulting." Kim asked, "Did you personally answer a call from that number?" and said, "There are reports that President Yoon directly called former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong from that number." He further asked, "Is it true that former Minister Lee answered the President's call?" but former Minister Lee consistently maintained his position of "I cannot say." As a former Minister of National Defense, he stated it was inappropriate to disclose what conversations the President and his aides had.
Ruling party lawmakers pressured former Investigation Unit Chief Park with questions such as, "Have you ever received a specific instruction to exclude former Division Commander Lim?" Former Chief Park explained, "Although it was not specifically limited to former Division Commander Lim, I received external pressure to exclude related suspects, charges, and crime names." Lawmaker Song Seok-jun also asked former Chief Park, "You mean you have never heard from anyone that former Division Commander Lim should be excluded?" to which former Chief Park replied, "I have never heard that former Division Commander Lim should be excluded from the list of charges."
Ahn Sang-hoon, a member of the People Power Party, is being pushed by the crowd and falling down as he tries to protest to Jeong Cheong-rae, the chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, before the first hearing related to the petition requesting the immediate filing of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol, held at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 19th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Meanwhile, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee faced a breakdown due to disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties from the start of the morning session. Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae announced the opening, but the ruling party lawmakers protested, causing a delay of about 10 minutes. Chairman Jeong read a letter from Chae Sang-byeong's mother and explained that the hearing would focus on suspicions of external pressure on the investigation.
The People Power Party claimed the hearing was illegal. Lawmaker Song said, "This will be an opportunity to clarify why this incident escalated into an investigation of external pressure by state agencies and why such an absurd event as impeachment occurred," and questioned, "Isn't this an illegal hearing?" When fellow party member Gwak Gyu-taek criticized the hearing, Chairman Jeong warned, "Anyone claiming this is an illegal hearing has no reason to be here. Mr. Gwak, please be quiet."
As the proceedings were repeatedly interrupted, Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Hyun-hee became embroiled in controversy after sustaining physical shock upon entering the meeting room. Chairman Jeong noticed her discomfort and asked her to explain the situation. Lawmaker Jeon complained of discomfort in her waist and other areas due to the shock upon entering the meeting room. Chairman Jeong stated that any physical harm inflicted would be severely punished. It was also reported that some ruling party lawmakers were injured during the physical shock incident.
The Presidential Office and the ruling party claimed that the hearing and witness selections were all illegal. The Democratic Party selected 22 witnesses related to the investigation pressure suspicions, including former Division Commander Lim, former Minister Lee, Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik, National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong, Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan, Marine Corps Public Relations and Information Officer Lee Yoon-se, former National Security Office Defense Secretary Administrative Officer Kim Hyung-rae, and former Black Pearl Investment CEO Lee Jong-ho. However, Minister Shin, Director Cho, Commander Kim, Officer Lee, Administrative Officer Kim, and former CEO Lee submitted letters of non-attendance for the hearing to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
The Democratic Party intends to push forward with the presidential impeachment petition hearing on the 26th as well. Park Chan-dae, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party, raised his voice, saying, "All suspicions point to Mrs. Kim Geon-hee, and there is a possibility that the prosecution will grant her a pardon," adding, "Each and every one of the suspicions of state power abuse that currently inflames the public's anger is all explained by the mere three syllables, Kim Geon-hee."
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