Kang Myung-gu "I Will Vote Against the President's Impeachment Motion... I Will Fight Until the End"

"Unconditionally Labeling Martial Law Measures as Treason"
"Unable to Check the Opposition's Parliamentary Violence and Tyranny"

On the 14th, as the ruling party continued discussions over the plenary vote and the pros and cons of the second impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol, Kang Myung-gu, a member of the People Power Party, expressed his intention to vote against the presidential impeachment motion.

Through Facebook in the afternoon, Rep. Kang stated, "I will enter the National Assembly plenary hall at 4 p.m. today and cast a dissenting vote against the presidential impeachment motion," adding, "Amidst a flood of fake news and one-sided claims regarding the president's declaration of martial law, I cannot agree with the impeachment motion that recklessly labels the martial law measures specified in Article 77 of the Constitution as treason."

Yonhap News

He referred to the claims of military, police, and National Intelligence Service officials, pointing out that "all of them are cowardly, self-serving excuses saying, 'We had no choice but to follow the president's orders, but we passively and effectively disobeyed.'"

He continued, "Eventually, even conspiracy theory expert Kim Eo-jun joined in, raising the absurd conspiracy theory of the 'Han Dong-hoon assassination squad,' stirring confusion in diplomacy with allied countries," emphasizing, "The investigation results have not yet come out, but as a member of the National Assembly, I can never accept the impeachment motion that labels martial law as treason and seeks impeachment."

Screenshot of Kang Myung-gu, People Power Party member's Facebook.

Rep. Kang criticized, "Martial law was lifted after three hours," adding, "However, for ten days after the martial law, the opposition and left-wing camps recklessly labeled the martial law as treason, continuing indiscriminate impeachment and intimidation attacks against the president and government ministers."

He argued, "An impeachment vote held under such political oppression and violence does not protect democracy," and countered, "While the National Assembly can immediately lift the president's martial law, no one can check the parliamentary violence and tyranny of the major opposition party, which is the current state of South Korean politics."

He stressed, "They want to impeach the People Power Party, the ROK-US alliance, and conservatism," and vowed, "I will fight to the end."

The People Power Party held a closed-door party meeting at the National Assembly from 10 a.m. on the same day to discuss participation in the impeachment vote and whether to adopt a party stance on the pros and cons. The party has leaned toward participating in the impeachment vote but has yet to narrow differences regarding adopting a party stance on the impeachment.

For the presidential impeachment motion to pass, the consent of at least 200 lawmakers (two-thirds of the total members) is required. If all opposition seats (192 seats) support impeachment, at least 8 defections from the ruling party are needed for approval.

Earlier that day, Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, also expressed opposition to impeachment on Facebook, saying, "I am not trying to protect President Yoon personally. I oppose the impeachment to protect the Republic of Korea’s system, future, and descendants," adding, "We cannot hand over power to the Democratic Party led by the ruthless Lee Jae-myung."