Kim Hong-il "Voluntary Resignation Inevitable... Majority View Is Acting Official Not Subject to Impeachment"

25th National Assembly Hearing for Candidate Lee Jin-suk, Chair of the Korea Communications Commission
Witness Kim Hong-il Appears: "Voluntary Resignation to Prevent Work Paralysis"
Opposition's Impeachment of Acting Chair: "Many Argue It Is Not Applicable"

Former Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Kim Hong-il reiterated that his voluntary resignation following the initiation of his impeachment motion was a choice made to prevent a paralysis of operations. Regarding the opposition party's push to impeach Acting Chairman Lee Sang-in, the KCC Vice Chairman, he stated, "The majority opinion is that he cannot be subject to impeachment."

At the confirmation hearing for candidate Lee held on the 25th by the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, former Chairman Kim, who participated as a witness, responded "Yes" to the question from Shin Sung-beom, a member of the People Power Party, asking, "Was your voluntary resignation a choice made in anticipation that the KCC's operations would be paralyzed while waiting for the Constitutional Court's ruling after the impeachment motion passed the plenary session?"

Former Chairman Kim voluntarily resigned before the impeachment motion against him was reported to the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 2nd. In his farewell address, Chairman Kim described the opposition party's impeachment push as "a political purpose to paralyze the KCC's operations by suspending my duties." Following Kim's resignation, the KCC has been operating under a single-person system with Vice Chairman Lee Sang-in acting as the interim head.

Regarding the two-person system at the KCC, former Chairman Kim said, "As I have said several times, I do not believe it is illegal," adding, "While it would be desirable to have a five-member system completed, since the commissioners themselves could not fill the vacancies, it was inevitable to handle operations under a two-person system."

On the opposition party's initiation of an impeachment motion against Vice Chairman Lee Sang-in, Kim said, "Article 65 of the Constitution specifies who can be impeached and states that impeachment can be carried out in other cases prescribed by law. To my knowledge, the majority opinion is that an acting official is not subject to impeachment."

When asked about the reason for appearing before the National Assembly, former Chairman Kim replied, "I believe that if the National Assembly calls, I must provide an explanation."