Concerns Over Public Backlash Against Yul's Impeachment
Economic Chief Vacancy Burden
On the afternoon of the 7th, the Democratic Party of Korea decided to file charges against Choi Sang-mok, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance. The reason is that the arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol ended without success due to Choi's failure to properly command the Presidential Security Service. The Democratic Party views this as dereliction of duty by the acting official and a 'second act of rebellion' obstructing the execution of the warrant.
Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party floor leader, said at the party's floor strategy meeting that day, "Acting Prime Minister Choi neglected his duty to uphold the Constitution and laws and ultimately took no action against the Security Service that obstructed law enforcement, creating a lawless situation and allowing a bloodshed incident to occur." He added, "Since this constitutes dereliction of duty and aiding and abetting obstruction of special official duties, appropriate measures will be taken."
The background to the Democratic Party's decision to charge Acting Prime Minister Choi is that, contrary to initial expectations, he has shown an uncooperative stance toward President Yoon's impeachment. Before the failed arrest of President Yoon, the party judged that Choi was hindering the acceleration of the impeachment process, including the request for a permanent special prosecutor recommendation and the delay in appointing the remaining constitutional court justice.
Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min
Notably, the Democratic Party decided to file charges against Acting Prime Minister Choi rather than impeach him. This is because impeaching both Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Acting Prime Minister Choi could increase public resentment toward the Democratic Party. Additionally, Choi's concurrent role as Minister of Economy and Finance makes the party hesitant to pursue impeachment. Political commentator Park Sang-byeong said, "In a situation where global affairs are rapidly changing at the end and beginning of the year and the livelihood economy is worsening, impeaching the economic chief is a burden even within the Democratic Party, and resistance is considerable."
Distrust toward the Democratic Party is also increasing. This is due to growing suspicions that the party is ignoring legality in leading the impeachment process. Recently, it was revealed that the court directly recommended withdrawing the charge of 'treason under criminal law' from the impeachment reasons during the National Assembly's impeachment prosecution team's process of deleting it. Joo Jin-woo, a member of the People Power Party, criticized, "This can be interpreted as a collusion to quickly accept the impeachment by reducing the grounds for impeachment," adding, "It is a clear trick to avoid the judicial risks of Representative Lee Jae-myung."
In this process, some conservatives who supported President Yoon in the last presidential election but later turned away are reportedly regrouping due to the Democratic Party's unilateral actions. According to a survey conducted by Realmeter on January 2-3, commissioned by Energy Economy Newspaper, targeting 1,001 voters nationwide aged 18 and over (95% confidence level, margin of error ±3.1%P), the People Power Party's approval rating in the first week of January rose by 3.8 percentage points from the previous week to 34.5%, while the Democratic Party's rating fell by 0.6 percentage points to 45.2%. The ruling party showed a three-week consecutive increase, whereas the Democratic Party showed a three-week consecutive decline, displaying contrasting trends. (For detailed information, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website)
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