Democratic Party Unable to Decide on Next Year's Budget Bill Processing
The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to repeatedly push for the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol on a weekly basis. They plan to consider not only a special investigation into President Yoon's declaration of martial law but also special investigations into allegations involving Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the People Power Party, including accusations of instigating complaints and ghostwriting of his children's theses. However, they intend to carefully deliberate before handling next year's budget bill.
Representative Lee Jae-myung and other members of the Democratic Party of Korea held a rally urging impeachment and condemning the People Power Party after the vote on the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol was defeated at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min
On the 7th, Yoon Jong-gun, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, met with reporters after a party meeting at the National Assembly main building and said, "Regarding President Yoon's impeachment, we have set a major policy to continue the process by breaking it down into weekly sessions, even if it means holding temporary sessions." When asked if the motion would be reintroduced on the 11th and voted on the 14th, he replied, "We have not specified the dates, but it will likely be so," adding, "There are time regulations requiring the motion to be reported and voted on within 72 hours, so we need to make organic judgments." However, he stated that they have not discussed whether to push for the special investigation bill regarding First Lady Kim Geon-hee every week for introduction and voting.
They are also expected to pursue a special investigation that defines President Yoon's declaration of martial law as an act of rebellion. Yoon Jong-gun said, "A standing special investigation was discussed regarding the rebellion, but today President Yoon stated in his address that he would not avoid judicial responsibility. We discussed whether a general special investigation should also be pursued." It appears they believe there is sufficient momentum to push for a general special investigation, as the police and prosecution are also investigating matters related to rebellion and other issues.
A special investigation into Leader Han is also under consideration. Han is suspected of instigating complaints, ghostwriting his children's theses, and deliberately losing the appeal trial regarding the cancellation of disciplinary action against President Yoon, who was then Prosecutor General, while serving as a prosecutor and Minister of Justice. It seems they will use these allegations to pressure Leader Han. Yoon Jong-gun said, "Han was a target President Yoon intended to arrest, but as of today, he has become an accomplice to rebellion," adding, "The special investigation into Han has long been under internal discussion and is currently being reviewed."
Regarding next year's budget bill, they stated they will handle it with careful consideration. Yoon Jong-gun explained, "There were opinions questioning whether this is the time to process the budget, but some argued that especially at times like this, it is necessary to proactively process a reduced budget to preemptively remove criticism that the opposition party is the source of government instability," adding, "Since there are no sharp disputes over increased budget items, there was an opinion that focusing on processing the reduced budget is not a bad approach."
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