Woo Won-sik "Prime Minister and ruling party's exercise of presidential powers is clearly unconstitutional" proposes interparty talks

National Assembly Speaker: "Suspend President's Duties and Hold Ruling and Opposition Party Talks"

Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-sik stated on the 8th, "It is a clear violation of the Constitution for the Prime Minister and the ruling party to jointly exercise presidential powers that no one has granted."

Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly. Photo by Yonhap News

On the same day, Woo held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly and made these remarks regarding the statement in which Prime Minister Han Deok-soo and People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon declared their intention to jointly manage the political situation.

Woo said, "Power is not something that resides in the president's pocket, and the transfer of such authority cannot be arbitrarily decided by the president," adding, "The transfer of presidential powers originates from the people, and the procedure must follow the Constitution and the principle of popular sovereignty."

He strongly criticized the statement by the Prime Minister and the party leader, saying, "It is a very arrogant act that ignores popular sovereignty and the Constitution, misleading the public as if this unconstitutional act were legitimate."

He continued, "I propose a ruling and opposition party meeting to immediately suspend the president's duties and resolve the current unstable national situation."

Regarding the failure of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol at the plenary session of the National Assembly the previous day due to the ruling party's absence, Woo pointed out that they did not participate in the "constitutional procedure to hold constitutional responsibility for the unconstitutional emergency martial law."