Kwon Seong-dong Requests Veto on Grain Management Act and Others... Also Demands Punishment Law for Impeachment Overuse from Opposition

Kwon Seong-dong "Veto Exercise, Acting President's Duty"
28 Impeachment Bills Passed Since Yoon Administration Inauguration
"If Rejected, Proposing and Voting Lawmakers to Be Punished for Abuse of Power"
"Must Be Jointly Proposed by Ruling and Opposition Parties"

Kwon Seong-dong, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, on the 19th repeatedly requested Han Deok-soo, Acting President and Prime Minister, to exercise the right to request reconsideration (veto power) on six contentious bills, including the Grain Management Act, which were passed solely by the opposition party, calling them the "Lee Jae-myung Six Laws of National Governance Collapse."

He also countered the Democratic Party of Korea's successive passage of impeachment motions against personnel of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration by proposing, "If the impeachment motions are dismissed, let's propose a law to punish abuse of power."

On the morning of the 19th, during a floor countermeasure meeting presided over at the National Assembly, Acting Leader Kwon said, "I once again request Acting Prime Minister Han Deok-soo to exercise the right to request reconsideration on the 'Lee Jae-myung Six Laws of National Governance Collapse,' including the amendments to the National Assembly Act, the National Assembly Testimony and Inspection Act, the Grain Management Act, the Agricultural and Fishery Products Distribution and Price Stabilization Act, the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Countermeasures Act, and the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Insurance Act." Prime Minister Han is scheduled to review these bills at a temporary Cabinet meeting that morning.

Previously, former Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho requested President Yoon Suk-yeol to exercise veto power on these bills on the 29th of last month. Acting Leader Kwon also requested the exercise of veto power on the 13th, one day before the impeachment motion against President Yoon was passed.

Kwon Seong-dong, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Regarding the amendment to the National Assembly Act, which aims to abolish the automatic referral system for budget bills and accompanying budget bills, he pointed out, "It directly contradicts the Constitution, which sets the budget resolution deadline as December 2." He also described the amendments to the National Assembly Testimony and Inspection Act, the Grain Management Act, the Agricultural and Fishery Products Distribution and Price Stabilization Act, the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Countermeasures Act, and the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Insurance Act as "all highly likely to be unconstitutional, causing confusion in the overall legal order and imposing a huge financial burden on the state."

Acting Leader Kwon further stated, "Exercising the right to request reconsideration is a natural duty of the Acting President. The Democratic Party has continuously opposed the exercise of the presidential right to request reconsideration on these six laws of national governance collapse. The Democratic Party's argument about 'clean-up acting' and questioning the authority of the Acting President is nothing but a flimsy excuse to prevent the exercise of the right to request reconsideration," criticizing them.

This is interpreted as a statement to defend against the Democratic Party's suggestion that they might submit an impeachment motion if Acting Prime Minister Han exercises the veto and to alleviate Han's burden. He also urged the Democratic Party, saying, "I hope they immediately stop the violent and threatening politics of intimidating the Acting President with impeachment," and emphasized, "They should abandon the arrogant idea that the exercise of the Acting President's authority can be arbitrarily determined by the opposition party."

14 Impeachment Motions Pending at the Constitutional Court... Kwon Seong-dong Proposes "Joint Proposal of Abuse of Power Punishment Law by Ruling and Opposition if Impeachment is Dismissed"

Kwon Seong-dong, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Acting Leader Kwon pointed out that 14 impeachment motions against Audit Board Chairman Choi Jae-ha, Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae, and others are pending at the Constitutional Court and argued that if the impeachment motions are dismissed by the Constitutional Court, the ruling and opposition parties should jointly propose a law to punish the lawmakers who proposed and voted for them as abuse of power. Since the opposition party has passed 28 impeachment motions against prosecutors and cabinet members since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, paralyzing the executive branch's work, restrictions are necessary.

Kwon said, "Currently, a total of 14 impeachment motions are pending at the Constitutional Court, and adding the presidential impeachment motion is increasing confusion. The Constitutional Court will need a long time to rule on these 14 impeachment motions," adding, "This means an extension of the time of national paralysis. Excessive impeachment and national stability cannot coexist," demanding the Democratic Party withdraw the politically motivated impeachment motions.

He continued, "Concrete cases are emerging showing how flimsy the impeachment motions that have been excessively submitted are. On the 18th, a preparatory hearing was held for three prosecutors, including Lee Chang-soo, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who were impeached, but it ended in three minutes," pointing out, "This was because the National Assembly side, which filed the impeachment trial, did not appoint lawyers, and no one appeared in court."

Regarding the successive passage of impeachment motions, he said, "Abuse of impeachment is abuse of legislative power. If the executive branch makes mistakes, the legislature can check it through national audits and special investigations," adding, "However, if the executive branch is paralyzed by excessive impeachment motions like now, there is no means to check the executive branch. To prevent legislative dictatorship and protect the separation of powers, punishment regulations for excessive politically motivated impeachment motions are absolutely necessary. The Democratic Party should stop this absurd drama of crying out for national stability with words while fiddling with impeachment motions with their hands," urging them.