Lee Sang-in, Vice Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (photo), is reported to voluntarily resign following the opposition party's motion for impeachment on the 25th.
Earlier that day, the impeachment motion against Vice Chairman Lee, proposed by the Democratic Party of Korea, was reported to the National Assembly plenary session. Currently, Vice Chairman Lee is serving as the acting Chairman of the Communications Commission. The Democratic Party aims to suspend his acting role to block the formation of the board of directors of the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation, which holds the authority to appoint MBC executives.
The impeachment motion must be voted on by secret ballot between 24 and 72 hours after being reported to the plenary session. Considering this, Vice Chairman Lee is expected to officially announce his resignation on the 26th.
Vice Chairman Lee was scheduled to appear as a witness at the confirmation hearing for candidate Lee Jin-sook, the nominee for Chairman of the Communications Commission, in the afternoon. However, after the opposition party filed the impeachment motion, he reportedly did not attend and instead organized his position.
Since becoming a commissioner in May last year, Vice Chairman Lee has served as acting chairman whenever the position was vacant, following the resignations of former commissioners Lee Dong-kwan and Kim Hong-il, who stepped down amid opposition party impeachment motions.
He has participated in major decisions and tasks such as the renewal and reauthorization of major broadcasters, changes in the largest shareholder of the news channel YTN, separate collection of KBS license fees, and reorganization of public broadcasting boards.
If Vice Chairman Lee resigns, the Communications Commission will face an unprecedented situation with no standing commissioners temporarily. In this case, the Commission will have to wait for the official appointment of candidate Lee Jin-sook and the appointment of a successor standing commissioner while the Secretary-General manages only the secretariat without an acting chairman.
However, since Vice Chairman Lee was a standing commissioner and not the chairman, the President can immediately appoint a successor. Among the candidates for his successor is Secretary-General Cho Sung-eun.
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