Kim Jong-hyuk: "Many Opinions at the Supreme Council Favored Cabinet Resignation and President's Party Withdrawal"

"Choo Kyung-ho Blocks Some Lawmakers from Coming"
"Martial Law Troops 'Han Dong-hoon Arrest Squad'?... Incomprehensible"

Kim Jong-hyuk, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, revealed that during a closed Supreme Council meeting held by the party on the morning of the 4th after President Yoon Seok-yeol lifted martial law, “there were many talks about demanding President Yoon to leave the party.”

Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is coming out after the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 4th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

After the Supreme Council meeting that morning, Kim appeared on CBS Radio’s Kim Hyun-jung News Show and said, “Rather than focusing on ‘how to view yesterday’s incident,’ there was a lot of discussion about ‘how to respond moving forward.’”

He added, “There was broad consensus that those responsible, including the Minister of National Defense, should be held accountable,” and “there were also many talks about the entire cabinet resigning.”

He continued, “Regarding the various opinions, Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho argued, ‘Let’s decide after the party caucus meeting,’ and most of the other Supreme Council members agreed with those three opinions,” adding, “There was a heated debate with comments like, ‘Isn’t the Supreme Council the highest decision-making body anyway?’ and ‘Can this be swayed by the results of the party caucus?’”

However, pro-Yoon members Kim Jae-won and Kim Min-jeon did not attend the Supreme Council meeting that day, and Supreme Council Member In Yo-han expressed agreement with this.

Regarding the possibility of requesting the president’s voluntary resignation, he said, “I don’t know,” and drew a line by stating, “There was debate about how we should respond to such matters, but no decision has been made.”

On the opposition party’s announcement to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Yoon, he said, “The opposition is doing what they can in their own way, and we are the ruling party, and the president is from our party, right? The party leadership needs to gather and decide how we will respond. It seems there will be intense debates even at the party caucus meeting.”

When asked if Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho deliberately prevented some lawmakers from coming to the National Assembly the previous night, he replied, “It was understandable that such a misunderstanding could arise,” explaining, “Representative Han Dong-hoon kept telling lawmakers to come to the National Assembly, but Floor Leader Choo sent texts asking them to come to the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido.”

Meanwhile, regarding some media reports that during this incident, not only opposition leader Lee Jae-myung but also ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon of the People Power Party were targeted by arrest squads among the martial law troops, he said, “(Although we have not yet confirmed this through CCTV or other means,) if it is true, it is truly incomprehensible.”