"Absent from Impeachment Vote is Cowardly"… MBC Announcer, Son of a Current Member of the People Power Party, Criticizes Ruling Party

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Um Joo-won, an MBC announcer, expressed his opinion regarding the People Power Party's stance, which emphasized the president's 'orderly early resignation' and abstained from voting on the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol. Um is the son of Um Tae-young, a People Power Party lawmaker representing Jecheon-si and Danyang-gun in Chungbuk.

On the 8th, Um posted on his social media about the impeachment motion being discarded due to the People Power Party's abstention from voting.

Um Joo-won MBC announcer and Um Tae-young member of the National Assembly. MBC·Asia Economy

In the post, he criticized, "Han Dong-hoon, the party leader, should have somehow led 108 members to vote," adding, "It seems he prevented voting altogether out of fear that 8 might defect, which is also cowardly." He continued, "Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and party leader Han Dong-hoon are unqualified to run the government," stating, "The reality where Prime Minister Han, who failed to prevent martial law and thus abetted a national crisis, utters the word 'recovery,' and party leader Han, who daily changes his stance between opposing impeachment, suspension, and early resignation, causing political confusion, speaks of 'order'?all of this is unrealistic."

He further argued, "The current situation cannot be resolved through an orderly resignation. To alleviate public anxiety, the only answer is the fastest possible resignation," and added, "If the president resigns, a successor must be elected within two months, which would cause more chaos. Impeachment, including the trial period, takes 5 to 6 months, which is comparatively better." Um also indirectly addressed criticism toward his father, Um Tae-young.

He said, "To those who anonymously questioned me about last night's vote, I say this: I have accepted this as a lifelong karmic consequence, so I will not speak of collective punishment. However, individual positions differ, and while we should debate fiercely, decisions and responsibilities belong to each person," responding to the critical voices. Finally, he added, "I am currently on a long vacation and will not be covering news related to the impeachment situation, so please take this as my personal opinion, not as an anchor."

Earlier, on the 7th, the impeachment motion against President Yoon, submitted to the National Assembly plenary session, was automatically discarded due to a lack of quorum, with only 195 out of 300 members participating in the vote. Among the 108 People Power Party lawmakers, only three?Ahn Cheol-soo, Kim Sang-wook, and Kim Ye-ji?voted, while the remaining 105 abstained and left the chamber. The Democratic Party has set a plan to continue pushing for impeachment and is scheduled to submit a second impeachment motion against President Yoon for a vote on the 14th.