Conflict Between Anti-Lee and Pro-Lee Factions Subsides
Kim Dong-yeon, Kim Young-rok, and Kang Ki-jung Hold Solo Protests
Last weekend, the opposition parties, shocked by the sudden release of President Yoon Seok-yeol, have united in a public campaign calling for his impeachment. The internal conflict within the Democratic Party between the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction and the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction has subsided, and the opposition's fighting power is now focused on their common adversary, President Yoon.
Four-term National Assembly members including Park Hong-geun of the Democratic Party of Korea, as well as Park Beom-gye, Kim Min-seok, Nam In-soon, and Min Hong-chul, are holding a press conference urging the Constitutional Court to impeach President Yoon at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 11th. Photo by Yonhap News
On the morning of the 11th, Kim Min-seok, a Supreme Council member and four-term lawmaker of the Democratic Party, held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly, urging "the Constitutional Court to swiftly decide on the impeachment of President Yoon to overcome public anxiety and national chaos."
In their press statement, they emphasized, "The Constitutional Court, as the highest authority on constitutional interpretation, is the last bastion protecting the constitutional order and democracy. Every constitutional judge bears the grave responsibility to resolve the current turmoil. Due to the series of events, a swift decision on the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol by the Constitutional Court is necessary."
They also warned, "If Yoon Seok-yeol is not impeached and returns to office, he will undoubtedly plot a second rebellion. At that time, South Korea’s constitution and laws will be completely denied, and the country will degenerate into a backward, dictatorial state rife with national terrorism."
The Democratic Party is fully committed to the impeachment campaign, holding daily full-member meetings, participating in outdoor rallies, overnight sit-ins, and hunger strikes.
Kim Kyung-soo, former governor of Gyeongnam and considered a potential opposition leader, began a hunger strike on the 9th demanding President Yoon’s impeachment. Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi, Governor Kim Young-rok of Jeonnam, and Mayor Kang Ki-jung of Gwangju have all started one-person protests.
The 'Yoon Seok-yeol Impeachment National Assembly Members’ Coalition (Yuntanyeon),' which includes Democratic Party lawmakers Kim Jun-hyuk, Park Soo-hyun, Min Hyung-bae, and Justice Party lawmaker Yoon Jong-oh, began a hunger strike at Gwanghwamun in Seoul from that day, demanding "the immediate re-arrest of Yoon Seok-yeol, the resignation of the Prosecutor General who facilitated his release, and the dissolution of the People Power Party for obstructing the impeachment trial" until President Yoon is impeached.
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