[December 7 National Assembly] 6 PM "People Power Party OOO Member, Please Come Back and Participate in the Vote"

Special Prosecutor Law on Kim Gun-hee Rejected with 198 Votes in Favor
President Yoon's Impeachment Also Fails Due to Insufficient Quorum
Park Chan-dae Appeals to Absent People Power Party Lawmakers to Attend

At 6 p.m., the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act was rejected in the National Assembly. Except for Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo, the members of the People Power Party left the plenary hall after attending the vote on the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act. Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, called out to the departing People Power Party members, shouting, "Come back quickly."

The ruling and opposition parties held their party meetings and then entered the plenary hall. The Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act was put to a vote first. With all 300 members of the assembly present, the special prosecutor act for Mrs. Kim was ultimately rejected with 198 votes in favor and 102 against. A re-vote requires the attendance of two-thirds of the members present.

Yonhap News

Afterwards, the People Power Party members began to leave. Opposition party members and their aides shouted at the departing People Power Party members, "Impeach Yoon Seok-youl," "Go back," and "Vote." Some People Power Party members remained in the meeting room, but when the impeachment motion against President Yoon was brought up, all except Assemblyman Ahn left their seats.

Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae also left after finishing his explanation of the proposal for the re-submission of the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act. Speaker Woo Won-shik said, "It is a principle in the National Assembly that cabinet members related to the vote remain in their seats," adding, "I do not know where the Minister of Justice is, but please return to your seat until the vote is completed." However, Minister Park did not return until the voting results were announced. Speaker Woo stated, "The Minister of Justice ultimately did not come back," and said, "The National Assembly will take appropriate measures."

The impeachment motion against Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min was reported to the National Assembly.

Members of the People Power Party and party officials held a rally condemning the impeachment push against the Board of Audit and Inspection chief and prosecutors from the Democratic Party on the stairs of the National Assembly Rotunda Hall on the 5th, while some Democratic Party lawmakers attending the plenary session raised placards in protest. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

In a situation where the impeachment motion was effectively rejected due to a lack of the required quorum, Park Chan-dae, the floor leader who began explaining the impeachment motion, called out the names of all the People Power Party members who had left their seats one by one. Each time Floor Leader Park called a name, all Democratic Party members stood up and echoed the name. For those members who participated in the vote to lift martial law, Park made a special appeal, saying, "Assemblyman OOO, who attended the resolution to lift martial law, please come back quickly." However, regarding Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo, who remained in his seat, Park mistakenly called his name and bowed, saying, "Thank you." Assemblyman Ahn also bowed in response.