"Opposition Interprets as Former KCC Vice Chairman Acting in Duty"
"Han Deok-su Should Also Be Seen as Acting Prime Minister, Not Official PM"
Kwon Seong-dong, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, claimed that the impeachment motion against Acting President Han Deok-su is the same as the presidential impeachment procedure. This means that if the Democratic Party of Korea submits an impeachment motion against Acting President Han, it must be approved by at least two-thirds of the total members of the National Assembly to pass.
On the 23rd, at a floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly, Acting Leader Kwon asked, "I ask the opposition party: Are you trying to impeach Acting President Han as Acting President or as Prime Minister?" He added, "Yesterday, the Democratic Party’s Deputy Floor Leader said in a media interview that they had already drafted an impeachment motion against the Prime Minister and intended to base the impeachment solely on actions taken during his time as Prime Minister." He continued, "The impeachment of the Prime Minister is like holding a knife to the neck of the Acting President and threatening to stab if the Democratic Party’s demands are not met?this is an impeachment hostage drama."
Acting Leader Kwon emphasized, "If the Democratic Party judged that there were sufficient grounds for impeachment against Acting President Han, they should have proposed the Prime Minister’s impeachment motion at that time. They appointed the Prime Minister, who should have been impeached by the opposition, as Acting President. Isn’t this beyond nonsense and tantamount to dereliction of duty?"
Acting Leader Kwon cited the example of the Democratic Party’s attempt in July to push for the impeachment motion against Lee Sang-in, who was then the Vice Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and Acting Chairman of the KCC. He explained, "If this Acting Chairman had been interpreted as the Vice Chairman of the KCC at that time, he could not have been subject to impeachment. However, the National Assembly regarded this Acting Chairman as holding the same position as the KCC Chairman and submitted the impeachment motion to the plenary session, and this Acting Chairman voluntarily resigned on the day of the plenary vote."
He added, "If an impeachment motion against Acting President Han is proposed this time, it must follow the presidential impeachment procedure, which requires the approval of two-thirds of the total members, according to the precedent of this Acting Chairman. If the National Assembly impeaches Acting President Han as Prime Minister, it would be directly contradictory to the submission of this impeachment motion against Acting President Han."
Furthermore, Acting Leader Kwon said, "No matter how arbitrarily the Democratic Party interprets the constitutional impeachment procedure, I hope Speaker Woo Won-shik and the National Assembly Secretariat will maintain their focus on this matter."
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