Democratic Party Submits Impeachment Motion Against Acting Chairman of KCC... "Illegal Appointment of Director by One Person"

Kim Hyun "Broadcasting Commission's Sole Leadership Originated in Yongsan"
"Did Not Properly Cooperate Despite National Assembly's Request for Data Submission"

The Democratic Party of Korea submitted an impeachment motion against Lee Sang-in, the acting chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), to the National Assembly's legislative affairs office. The party defined the KCC's decisions made under the sole leadership of Vice Chairman Lee as "illegal" and adopted his impeachment as the party's official stance.

Kim Hyun, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chair of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, met with reporters around 1:40 p.m. after filing the impeachment motion against Vice Chairman Lee. He stated, "The KCC remains in an incomplete state." He added, "After the resignation of former Chairman Kim Hong-il, the KCC has become effectively powerless under the sole leadership of Vice Chairman Lee, yet the appointment of commissioners is still proceeding. Both the Democratic Party and opposition parties have pointed out that making major decisions by a single person is illegal."

On the afternoon of the 25th, Kim Yong-min, Deputy Floor Policy Chief of the Democratic Party of Korea, Kim Hyun, Secretary of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, and Han Min-su, member of the same committee, submitted an impeachment motion against the Acting Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (Lee Sang-in) to the National Assembly Secretariat. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He said, "Despite the National Assembly's requests for document submissions, cooperation has been insufficient, preventing the Assembly from functioning properly. This was also specified as a reason for impeachment." The impeachment motion against Vice Chairman Lee was reported at the plenary session of the National Assembly held at 2 p.m. that day.

Lawmaker Kim emphasized, "The KCC should operate as a five-member consensus body," and added, "The first responsibility lies with Yongsan (the Presidential Office), which has not appointed the standing commissioners recommended by the opposition parties." He continued, "The Democratic Party's actions so far have been aimed at preventing this sole leadership system originating from Yongsan," and stated, "We believed it was the people's mandate to crush the broadcasting control conspiracy being carried out by the Yoon administration."

Kim Yong-min, the Democratic Party's deputy floor leader for policy, who participated in submitting the impeachment motion, responded to concerns about the "paralysis of the KCC" by saying, "In fact, it should have been impossible to make decisions all this time," and added, "President Yoon is responsible for creating a dysfunctional KCC." Lawmaker Han Min-soo also said, "The Yoon administration and President Yoon violated the law by operating under a sole leadership system," and stated, "Therefore, we submitted the impeachment motion according to the procedures and authority granted to the National Assembly."